


Kids in America

by softboystanley



Category: IT (2017), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, I tried my best, Multi, So much angst, after season 3, definite elmax slow burn, everyones gay except for a few people, hoppers still dead rip, i also did justice to some of the novel fears, like u gonna cry angst, lots of fear scenes, mike got his historian position back, mike n stan are childhood besties, moderate slow burn?, set back in the 80s, will n el are traumitized
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-08-10 20:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20141872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softboystanley/pseuds/softboystanley
Summary: After the events of 1985, Will and El move to a small town in Maine called Derry, where they think they have put their past behind them. However, when a new foe emerges, they'll need the help of both their old party and the Losers Club.





	1. Bad Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> i worked so hard for so long on this fic

It had felt like ages since Will had seen his hometown of Hawkins. Yes, he may live in Derry now but his home is in Hawkins, in a basement belonging to his best friend. He had adjusted well to his new life in Derry. He did well in school and he had friends but more importantly, the episodes stopped. No longer could he feel the Upside Down in him. No longer did the hairs on the back of his neck stand when the lights flickered. 

El, however, wasn’t doing as well as Will. She had friends, the same friends as Will, and she did alright in school but there was a hole in her heart. A Hopper sized hole, that no one could fill. Joyce tried her best to help El, but it wasn’t the same. No Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganzas, no movie nights, no more board games. It hurt. But she tried her best not to let it show in front of her new friends who had no idea of she and Will’s past trauma. 

Their new friends were cool, though. Not as cool as their old friends but cool nonetheless. They were Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier (who El and Will both agreed looked exactly like Mike), Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris. 

It was the last day of school, thank God. The final bell rang and Will rose from his seat, eager to finally be out of school. Will ran over to his friends and heard the beginnings of their conversation. 

“So, there’s a whole bunch of jewish people, right? And Stan has to take this like jewish test.” Eddie rambled. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Will asked, confused by what he was hearing. 

“S-S-Stan’s Bar Mitzvah.” 

Will nodded. 

“You’re wrong, Eds. It’s not a test. They just fuckin’ chop the top of his dick off.” 

“Don’t call me Eds.” 

Stan and El came running over to them, thus joining the conversation. 

“Stan, what happens at the Bar Mitzvah? Richie’s trying to say they slice the top of your dick off.” Will said. 

“I read from the Torah, make a speech and suddenly I become a man.” Stan explained. 

“What’s a Bar Mitzvah?” El whispered in Will’s ear. 

“I’ll explain later.” Will replied. 

The group pushed the doors of the school open and felt the fresh air. 

“Ah, free at last.” Will smiled. 

“H-H-How’re you gonna s-s-spend your summer, Will?” 

“With you guys. Not like I have anyone else around here.” 

“Not going back home?” Eddie asked. 

“No. We only go back on holidays.” El replied. 

“The fourth is a holiday.” Richie pointed out and Will and El looked at each other. 

Out of all the days in the year, July 4th was their least favorite. Too many bad things happened on that day that both of them would rather forget. 

“Not important enough.” Will shrugged. 

“Is that Betty Ripsom’s mom?” Stan asked, pointing at a woman standing by a few police cars. 

“What’s she doing here? It’s not like Betty’s been hiding in Home Ec. for the last week.” Richie joked. 

Bill knew Richie was only joking around, but something about the joke didn’t land right in Bill’s mind. He just kept thinking of Georgie. Stan noticed Bill’s face fall. 

“Beep beep, asshole.” Stan said. 

“What should we do?” Will dumped his books into the nearest trash can. 

“Quarry.” El nodded her head definitively.

“We have to go to the B-Barrens, ‘member.” 

“Right, sorry.” El looked down. 

They all got on their bikes, except for El who rode on the back on Will’s, much like she did with her boyfriend when she first met him. They pulled into the Kaspbrak’s driveway to get some snacks.

“E-El, wait here. We’ll be right b-back.” 

El always had to wait outside whenever they went to Eddie’s house. Mrs. K didn’t like Eddie hanging around with girls so they kept El secret. 

  
  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


Halfway across town, Benjamin Hanscom was in the library. He was writing a poem to the girl he adored above all else, Beverly Marsh. 

Ben liked the library. It was always cool and quiet. He studied a lot there during the year, because being the new kid was tough and he didn’t have very many friends. In fact, he didn’t have any friends, something the librarian often asked him about.  _ Shouldn’t a boy your age be off playing with his friends?  _

When he had finally finished the poem, he held it up into the light so he could read it one last time. 

“Your hair is winter fire.” Ben repeated under his breath. “January Embers. My heart burns there, too.” 

Ben heard the door to the library get thrown open as a familiar sound of boots echoed through the building. Henry Bowers. Ben quickly gathered his things and turned around. Henry was at the desk talking to the librarian, but Ben was willing to bet he wasn’t asking for a book. 

Trying his best to be as silent as possible, he stood and slowly walked towards the back door. But before he could make it out, one of the books slipped from his grasp and hit the ground with a thump. The entire library went silent and Ben could practically feel Henry’s eyes on him. 

“You’re dead, Hanscom!” He yelled and before Ben could hear Henry move, he dropped all of his books and ran out the door. He had a head start but he knew Henry would catch up to him. 

Ben looked over his shoulder to snatch a glimpse at Henry when he foot hit a rock and he tripped, sending him tumbling down the hill. He could feel sticks and rocks scratch up his arms as he rolled down the hill. He came to a stop just before a swamp with a large entryway to the sewer behind it. 

Ben sprung to his feet, expecting to see Henry behind him but no one was there. 

“Ben!” Someone called.  _ Was that? It couldn’t be. _

A strange fear sparked in Ben’s body as he turned slowly around, scared who he might see standing there. Standing in the middle of the swamp, on the water, was Ben’s father. He was in his army uniform holding a bunch of multicolored balloons. 

“Dad?” 

“Ben! Come with me!” Ben’s father waved a hand, motioning for Ben to join him. “If you come with me, you’ll float, too.” 

This couldn’t be real. Ben’s father had died at war. Ben saw the body at the funeral. This couldn’t be him. 

“You’ll float, too!” Ben’s father yelled. 

“What does that mean, Dad?” Ben yelled back across the swamp. 

Ben watched in horror as his father turned into a clown. Like an actual carnival clown. 

“What the fu-” 

Before Ben even had time to finish his sentence the clown rushed towards him, He wasted no time running from the water as fast as he could, scared to death of whatever might be chasing him. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

About a quarter of a mile downstream the gang had just arrived at the Barrens. El hopped off Will’s bike and was about to walk into the woods when Stan put his hand out and stopped her. 

“That’s poison ivy.” He said, pointing to one of the plants El was about to step on. 

“Where!” Eddie practically screamed, running in circles looking for it. 

“Over there is a patch. And that over there is poison ivy, too.” 

“No, it’s not. Not every fucking plant is poison ivy, Stanley.” Richie said, earning a tiny giggle from Will. 

“Okay, well, I’m starting to get itchy, so.” Eddie itched the upper part of his arm as Bill lead them into the tunnel. 

“Do you use the same bathroom as your mother?” Richie asked, a smile growing on his face, warning everyone that a joke was coming. 

“Sometimes yeah-” 

“Then you probably have crabs.” Richie turned and smiled at Eddie while El laughed. 

“That is so not funny.” Eddie sighed. 

Bill, Richie and Will had all fully walked into the tunnel while Eddie, Stan and El stayed by the exit. 

“Aren’t you guys gonna come in?” Will turned to face them. 

“Nuh uh. That’s greywater.” 

“What the hell is greywater?” Richie rolled his eyes. 

“It’s basically...piss and shit so... I'm just telling you. You guys are splashing in millions of Derry pee. So…” Eddie rambled. 

Richie grabbed a stick and dipped it in the water. Eddie watched on, horrified, as Richie sniffed the stick. 

“Uh, are you serious?” 

“Doesn’t smell like caca to me, senor.” Richie put on a fake Spanish accent that made El laugh. 

“Ok- I can smell that from here.” Eddie gagged.

“That’s probably just your breath, wafting back into your face-” 

“Guys! Come on. Let’s go.” Will said, bringing Richie and Eddie’s conversation to a halt. 

“C-Check it out.” Bill held up a white sneaker that was wet with sewer water. 

“Shit.” Stan’s voice cracked. 

“Is that…?” Will’s voice dragged off but it was clear what he wanted to say. 

“No. G-G-Georgie wore rain b-boots.” Bill shone his flashlight in the shoe and revealed a name scrawled in sharpie. 

“It’s Betty Ripsom’s.” Will said. 

“Oh, fuck.” Stan murmed. 

“I don’t like this.” El said. 

“How do think Betty feels? Running around these tunnels with only one freaking shoe?” Everyone looked at Richie, horrified expressions across all their faces. 

“What if her body’s still here?” Stan asked. 

Will turned down the tunnel and followed Bill while Richie tried to beckon Stan, El and Eddie in. 

“Guys, come on.” 

“No way. I’m not going in there.” Eddie replied. 

“I-If I was B-Betty, I’d w-w-want someone to find me. G-G-Georgie, too.” 

The thing is, Will had been Betty Ripsom. He’d been missing for a week, all by himself, alone in a strange place. And he wanted nothing more than for someone to find him. He’d go to sleep at night, dreaming of Mike finding him in the Upside Down and taking him back to his family, where he’d be safe and they could play D&D forever. That’s why Will felt so strongly for Bill. Watching Bill search for his brother reminded Will of Jonathan, searching desperately for him. 

“What if I don’t want to find them?” Eddie said, suddenly. 

“Eddie!” El whacked him on the arm. 

“Sorry El. I mean, no offense Bill, but I don’t wanna end up like ...” 

A stunned silence came across each and every one of them. Will watched, heartbroken, as Bill’s face saddened. 

“He has a point.” El nodded.

“How about you, Stan?” Richie asked. 

“It’s summer. We’re supposed to be having fun. This isn’t fun. This is scary and disgusting.” 

A splash was heard in the river behind them and Stan whirled around, expecting to see a dead corpse floating down the the river but it wasn’t. It was that new kid, Ben Hanscom. He was covered in cuts and bruises. 

“Holy shit!” Richie jumped out of the tunnel. “What happened to you?” 

“Bowers.” Ben said, not fully processing what had happened to him. He figured it was best not to mention the clown so these kids didn’t think he was insane. 

“Been there.” Richie joked as Stan ran over to Ben to help him up. 

“We have to get him something to stop all the bleeding.” Eddie also ran over to Ben, but he was much more panicked than Stan. 

“Do we have enough bikes?” Will looked at Bill. 

“N-No. Y-Your bike is the only o-one big enough to f-f-fit two people.”

“I’ll take El, Eddie and Stan to get supplies.” Will said. 

Bill nodded and Will, El, Eddie and Stan rode off to pharmacy, leaving Bill and Richie with Ben. 

“Glad I got to meet you before you died.” Richie looked at Ben who gave him a puzzled look in return. 

  
  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


“Earlier, why didn’t you take Bill’s side? I mean, you watched everyone look for me and you know what it feels like to have someone go missing.” Will asked El while they rode into town. They were slightly behind Eddie and Stan so they could talk freely about their past. 

“It doesn’t help anyone to search for someone who’s already gone. We all know Georgie’s dead. Bill’s just delaying the inevitable.” 

“Does this have to do with...Hopper?” Will had never really asked El too much about Hop, not wanting to poke a nerve. 

“I moved on. Bill should, too.” 

“Do you think anyone who looked for me should have moved on?” 

“What? No. That’s different. You were alive.”

“You found my body. No one’s found Georgie’s.” 

“But I could sense you.”

“Have you tried it for Georgie?” 

“I don’t know Georgie. It wouldn’t work even if I tried.” 

Will took that to be the end of their conversation as El turned her head away from him and towards the woods. 

“I think it’s great that we’re helping the new kid but I think we should think about our own safety.” 

“Eddie.” Stan groaned, clearly knowing where Eddie was going. 

“I’m serious, Stan. He’s bleeding and you know there’s an AIDS epidemic going on right now, right?” 

“That’s not how it works.” 

“Oh really? Cause my mom’s friend in New York was on the subway and AIDS blood got in his system through a hangnail. A hangnail!” 

By the time they arrived at the pharmacy, Eddie was out of breath because of the amount of rambling he did on the ride over. 

“Bandages and gauze.” Will said. “How expensive can it be?” 

“We only have four bucks between us.” Stan pointed out.

“Let’s just go in and see.” El pushed past the boys and walked into the store as they followed. Eddie found his way to the medical aisle and begun picking up  _ way  _ more than just bandages and gauze. 

“Eddie, we can’t afford that.” 

“Wait, don’t you have an account here?” Stan asked. 

“My mom finds out I bought all this stuff for myself and I’ll spend the rest of the week in the ER.” Eddie shook his head. 

Unbeknownst to them, Beverly Marsh was in the aisle next to theirs. She happened to overhear every part of their conversation. She liked those kids, even though she never hung out with them. They were probably the only kids in the school who didn’t think she was a slut, which she wasn’t. She decided to help them out. 

“What are you guys up to?” She asked, walking into the aisle. 

“Hey, Beverly.” El said, quietly. She and Bev had the same homeroom and Bev reminded El of a certain somebody she missed. 

“Hey, El.” 

“Ben Hanscom got beat up by Henry and we need some supplies.” Eddie gestured to the things Will was holding. 

“We don’t have enough money.” Stan finished. 

“Let me take care of that.” 

“What are you gonna do?” El asked. 

“Distract Mr. Keene. You guys sneak out the front scot free. Win win.” 

“How’s that a win for you?” 

“Your win is my win.” Bev smiled and walked over to the register, beginning to speak with Mr. Keene. 

“How do we know when to go?” Eddie hissed. 

“I assume she’ll give us a signal.” Will replied. 

A loud crash could be heard. They all looked over and saw Mr. Keene picking up something on the ground. Bev turned her heard, as a signal to them to go. At once they all tried to get out of the aisle, which caused Eddie to crash into the wall, spilling medical supplies all over the ground. 

“Fuck.” He muttered. 

“Leave it, we gotta go.” Will said in a whisper and they all ran out the door. 

They regrouped in the alley, assessing what supplies they actually got.

“I’ve got antiseptic, gauze and medical tape.” Eddie held up the items for everyone to see. 

“Will it be enough?” Stan asked.

“I’ll find a way.” 

They all heard the pharmacy door swing open and Bev walked out. El grabbed their four dollars from Stan’s hand and ran over to Bev. 

“Hey!” El called to Bev. “I wanted to give you this. As a thank you.”

“No need.” Bev held up a pack of cigarettes. “Even steven.”

El smiled. “We’re all going down to the quarry tomorrow, if you wanna come.” 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. See you around.” 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

Mike Hanlon was riding through town, like he did everyday. It was part of his chores to delivery the fresh meat to the butcher. Mike lived on the outskirts and was homeschooled so his time in Derry was limited to that fifteen or so minutes. 

He pulled his bike to a stop in an alley which had a back entrance to the butchershop. He was taking packages of meat out of his basket when he heard a bang at the door to the shop. He turned and watched as a hand slipped out, almost reaching to him. 

The door erupted into flames and the screaming began. Hundreds of hands slipped out of the door and tried to reach out to him, thousands of voices calling his name. 

“Mike! Mike! Mike!” 

Mike was paralyzed with fear. He could barely react to what was happening. Was this some sort of sick prank? 

As quick as it started, it was over. The door swung open and lying on the floor were bodies, burnt by fire. Mike recognized them as his parents. He’d seen their bodies on the floor when he was carried out by firemen and that image haunted his every dream. 

But there was something else. A single red balloon that floated into Mike’s view. It sent shivers up his spine. 

The butcher walked into Mike’s view and just like that the bodies disappeared, along with the balloon. 

“Mike? Are you okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah, just..staring into space, I guess.” 

Mike went about his day, trying to forget about what happened but it stuck to him like a bad dream. Maybe that’s all it was. A bad dream.

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

Tuesdays at 7:00 sharp was Will’s favorite time. It was when the connection between Will’s walkie and Cerebro were strong enough to reach from Maine to Indiana. 

“Mike? Are you there? Over.” 

“I’m here. Over.” 

“How was your day? Over.” 

“It was good. We still have two days left before school ends so we’re doing absolutely nothing at all. Over.” 

“We got out today. And I made a new friend. His name’s Ben and he was all cut up when we found him so I went down to the pharmacy with Eddie, Stan and El and we shoplifted. Over.” 

“You shoplifted?!” 

“You forgot to say over. Over.” 

“That’s a crime, Will. Over.”

“So’s buying fireworks if your underage but that didn’t stop you. Over.” 

“Yeah but it was for the greater good. Over.” 

“This is greater good too. He needed help. Over.” 

“At least you’re making friends. I was worried you’d be lonely without me. Over.” Will felt blush crept onto his face.

“Get your head out of your ass, Wheeler. I’m great at making friends. Over.” 

“I really miss you, Will. I saw one of your old drawings in my basement while my mom was cleaning and I almost cried. You’re sure you’re not coming back for the 4th? Over.” 

“I’ve asked her like three times. She doesn’t want to go back. It’s hard enough around Thanksgiving and Christmas. And El...it was the day he died, you know? Over. 

“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see you. Over.” 

“Speaking of El.. do you want to talk to her? Over.” 

“I think my mom’s calling me. I’ve got to go. Over.” 

“Mike, you’re in the middle of a field. Over.” Will laughed expecting to be met with Mike’s own warm laughter but there was just static.

“Mike? Mike are you there? Over?” 

_ Signal must have cut out. But he said his mom was calling him. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to El?  _

Will walked back and sat down on his bed. He didn’t hate Derry, not one bit but he hated the distance. He could only talk to his best friend once a week for ten minutes at most. It sucked. So what if Will didn’t get his episodes anymore. He was still miles and miles away from the person he loved most. 


	2. Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has so many jumps whoops sorry

Halfway across town, on that same night, Bev was in her bathroom. She was lying in the tub, looking at a note that had been left on her window. It was a postcard for Derry with a small poem on the back. 

“Your hair is winter fire. January Embers. My heart burns there too.” She whispered, running her hand over the words, taking them in. The handwriting seemed so familiar, yet she couldn’t place it. 

“Beverly.” She heard a voice call in a sharp whisper. She looked around, hoping to hear the sound again but was met only with the tap of the water from her sink. 

“Beverly.” It said. 

_ Tap. Tap.  _

“Beverly. Help us.” 

_ Tap. Tap.  _

“Hello? Is someone there?” She got out of the tub and looked around, looking for the source of the sound. 

“Over here. Help us.” The voices were coming from her sink. Bev walked over to the sink and looked down the drain. 

“Hello? Who are you?” 

“The missing kids. Betty and Veronica.” 

_ Tap. Tap. _

“Come closer, Beverly. We float and you can, too.” The voices beckoned her. Instead, she slowly walked into the living room, as not to awaken her father. 

The TV was playing and her father was passed out on the couch. Bev tiptoed over to his tool belt and grabbed the tape measure. 

She came back into the bathroom and stuck the measuring tape down the drain. She kept feeding it, for what felt like forever. Suddenly it stopped at 287 inches and the sound of giggling could be heard from inside the drain. 

_ What was this? Greta, playing some sick joke? There’s no such thing as ghosts.  _

She pulled the tape back up, but there was some weight on the end. When the tape measure was almost all the way back, something happened. The tape went from it’s normal gross yellow to dripping red. Dripping blood. 

Bev was even more terrified to see hair, clumps and clumps of hair, come up in a gross mix of blood and her own hair. She quickly dropped the tape measure and it clattered against the sink. She tried to back away but the hair from the tape measure reached out and circled around her wrist. Another strand branched out and grabbed around her neck. 

Strand after strand circled around her and pulled her to the sink, forcing her to look down the sink. 

“Daddy! Help me!” Bev screeched as blood started to bubble out of the drain. 

Blood exploded out of the sink, drenching Bev’s clothes and face in blood. It painted the walls and coated the tile floor. It splattered down on the postcard and smudged the writing. The hair sunk back into the drain and she fell onto the ground, blood still spewing out of the sink. Her feet slipped on the bloody floor as she tried to scooch away. Blood mixed with the tears streaming down Bev’s face. 

“Help me!” She screamed again. And then it stopped. The blood returned to the sink and Bev was sitting in her blood covered bathroom, face painted red. 

“Beverly! What’s wrong?” Her father burst into her room, obviously hearing her screams. 

“You don’t see it?” Bev asked, her eyes wild with fear. 

“See what?” 

But Bev couldn’t respond. Her body was so racked with fear, she could barely speak. 

  
  


**\-------------------------------- **

  
  


At the Denbrough house, Bill had just finished a very boring dinner with his parents. Things were different after Georgie disappeared. The house lost its vibrance and fun. It was quiet and bleak. 

A difference could be noted in dinner table conversation as well. There was now none. No more ‘How was your day, Georgie?’, no more ‘What do you want to do this weekend, Georgie?’. None of it. Bill’s parents never paid much attention to him but now, it was unbearable. He felt like a ghost. Unseen by his family. A stranger in his own house. 

Bill found himself wandering into Georgie’s room by routine. After dinners, Georgie and Bill would return to Georgie’s room where Bill would read him stories and play games with him until their mom said it was time for bed. 

He almost half expected Georgie to be sitting on the bed. 

_ Read me a story, Billy! The bestest story you have!  _

But the room was Georgie-less. His mother had insisted on keeping the room the same as Georgie had left it. Everything in its place.

Bill sat on Georgie’s bed, which was cold. He picked up a book from Georgie’s nightstand. It was a large book, hardcover and old. The words were carved into the cover in gold.  _ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  _ It was Georgie’s favorite book, even though he could barely read it. Bill smiled as he ran his hands over the cover, remembering all the times he and his brother read through this book, late into the night. 

He heard footsteps running through the kitchen accompanied by childish laughter. Slowly, Bill rose from the bed, tucking the book under his arm. He left Georgie’s room and walked into the now dark kitchen. Both of his parents had gone upstairs, leaving Bill completely alone on the floor. 

Bill saw nothing in the kitchen, except for muddy footprints and dirty dishes that his father would make him clean. Bill felt disappointed. He knew it wasn’t Georgie, that was impossible, but part of him wanted it to be. 

He was about to turn and walk up to his room when a flash of yellow ran from behind the fridge to the basement. It was bright yellow, like the yellow of Georgie’s raincoat that he had worn the last time Bill saw him. 

An echo of laughter sounded up from the basement as fear crawled up Bill’s spine. Why was he afraid? This is what he had been dreaming of. Georgie was home. But something was different. It didn’t feel like Georgie. 

Bill followed reluctantly into the basement, descending the steps as he tried to control his fear. He reached the bottom step and searched for that bright yellow raincoat. It was standing in the corner, attached to Georgie, but it didn’t quite look like Georgie. His face was….off. 

It was dirty, covered in what looked like sewer slime. He was wet, too. In fact, now that Bill fully took in his surroundings, everything was wet. The basement had flooded, with greywater, like Eddie had said at the Barrens. 

“I lost the boat. I didn’t want to come home cause I thought you’d be mad.” Georgie said, still hidden in the corner. 

“I’m n-n-not mad. You c-c-c-can come home, it’s okay.” 

“It just floated off.” He didn’t quite seem to comprehend Bill’s words. Like he was reading off a script, unable to react. “But if you come with us, you’ll float, too.” 

“U-Us?” 

“You’ll float, too.” Georgie’s face shifted from his happy grin to a sinister smile as his words elevated in urgency. 

“You’ll float, too! You’ll float, too! You’ll float, too! You’ll float, too!” Bill watched, his body shaken to the core with pure terror, as Georgie started to scream those words at him. He screamed and screamed until his face began to rot and his mouth poured out water which clogged his words. 

It was through his fear-induced tears that Bill saw another figure in his basement. It’s face was bright white and it’s hair was soaked in greywater, but straight red. It looked almost like a clown, lurking beneath the surface. 

“G-Georgie, please. S-Stop. I’m sorry, p-please. Just stop.” 

Georgie sunk below the water and the clown creature began to speak. 

“You want this to stop, Billy? You started this. You killed Georgie. You did this.” 

“Stop. I didn’t do s-s-shit.” 

“That’s what you think.” The clown smiled before sinking down below the waves, leaving Bill standing alone. 

He heard a ghostly whisper of  _ You’ll float too _ before Georgie’s body sprung up from the water and rushed at Bill. He thought fast and darted up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind him and breathing a sigh of relief. 

“Bill? What in the devil is all that noise?” Bill’s father asked, coming into the kitchen. 

“I s-s-saw G-G-Georgie in the bas-basement and it-it was all fl-flooded and there w-w-was this c-c-clown and he-” 

“Stop it. We’ve talked about this. Now quiet down before your mother gets upset. And do the dishes while you’re at it.” 

Bill sighed. He knew his father wouldn’t believe him. No one ever did. He stayed and washed the dishes but the fear still lingered in him. Every now and again he would glance over at the door, expecting to hear a giggle accompanied by Bill’s newest nightmare. 

_ You’ll float, too.  _

**\-------------------------------- **

“Are you insane, Eds? Of course Captain America could beat up Superman!” Richie yelled. 

They whole group of them, now including Ben, were standing at the edge of the cliff leading down into the Quarry. 

“No way! Superman has superpowers. Captain America has nothing but a shield!” Eddie argued. 

“He has the power to lift Mjölnir.” Stan pointed out, as the biggest Thor fan in the group. 

“So what? I bet you ten bucks Superman could stop Mjönir.” Will interjected. 

“No way! Superman’s not worthy!” 

“He totally is! He’s Superman!” 

“So?” Ben asked. “If you think about it, it’s Odin’s idea of worthy, so would Superman be worthy in the eyes of Odin? The answer is no.” 

“What about Wonder Woman?” El introduced. Wonder Woman was the only comic book El read, shown to her by Max. 

The boys went quiet. 

“Could she wield it? She’s powerful enough and her father is a god.” 

“M-Maybe. H-Her dad is Zeus, s-s-so she’s w-w-worthy in the eye’s of a g-god.” 

“What are you talking about, Bill? Of course Diana could use mjönir! She has her golden lasso, which is way cooler than Cap’s shield and her uniform is cool as fuck!” Ben sprung in. 

“I think she could use it.” Stan said. “She’s pure of heart and all that, right?” 

“I don’t know. I’m a Sups guy more than anything else.” Eddie shrugged. 

“Oh fuck yeah! She’s so fucking cool! She could like take the hammer and beat up Captain America  _ and  _ Superman! She’d be all like ‘I am Wonder Woman and I deserve to be respected, bitch!’.” Richie rambled, acting out Diana’s hammer wielding with his hands.

“I love Wonder Woman. She’s my favorite.” Said a voice behind them. They all turned and standing at the edge of the forest was Beverly. 

“Me too.” El replied, a smile gracing her face when she saw Bev. Bev reminded El of someone. Someone special that El hadn’t noticed how much she missed. 

“Now are we gonna jump in or what?” Bev laughed. 

El looked down at the water below her. She had been in a similar situation a few years ago, except it wasn’t El who jumped. It was Mike. And the cliff there was much higher than it was in Derry. Mike would have died if he made it but El had jumped in and saved him. She wasn’t too eager about jumping to what could very well be her doom but she didn’t want to seem like a wimp in front of them. 

When none of the other boys moved, also frozen scared of what might happen, Bev laughed. 

“Sissies.” Bev ran forward and before she ran off the edge of the cliff, grabbed El’s hand pulling her down with her. 

The last thing El heard before hitting the water was Richie shouting: “What the fuck!” 

While El and Bev splashed in the water below, the boys stayed up on the cliff.

“Holy shit! We just got shown up by the girls!” Richie said. 

“Do we have to do that now?” Will asked. 

“Yes. Obviously. It’d be pussy not to.” Stan replied. 

“Who’s going first?” Ben looked at the rest of them, slightly eager to join Bev in the water. 

“I-I-I’ll go.” Bill ran back a little bit, but before he jumped, he changed course slightly and instead pushed Stan off the cliff. 

Stan’s screams of protest could be heard until he hit the water, which sent Richie rolling with laughter. 

“Fuck you, Bill!” Stan yelled up. 

Ben took one step off the edge and fell down, nearly falling on top of Bev. Eddie and Richie went next, holding hands cause that was the only way Eddie would have jumped. Bill and Will were the last two standing at the top. 

“Y-Y-You’ve been a-awfully quiet t-t-today. Ar-Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, just weird conversation with my friend last night. And I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“L-Like what?” 

Will didn’t want to tell Bill. Partly because the government might hunt him down but also cause it instantly made people think he was weak. He was the one who get lost. 

So, instead of answering the question, Will turned, his heels off the cliff. 

“If you wanna know, guess you’ll have to jump.” He shrugged before falling backwards, feeling the air rushing beneath him as he hit the water with a splash. 

Bill joined them and they played around in the Quarry for what felt like eons. At one point, Richie put Eddie up on his shoulders and Bill did the same with Will and they had a fight until Eddie knocked Will off Bill’s shoulders. 

“Holy shit, guys something touched my foot.” Stan said, looking very alarmed. 

“It was the ancient quarry monster.” Richie whispered before jumping on Stan and pushing him under the water, to which Stan protested greatly. 

“It touched my foot, too.” Bev remarked. 

“It’s a turtle. A big turtle.” El observed. 

“What if it’s a snapping turtle?” Eddie climbed on top of Richie, practically drowning him, wary of the ‘snapping turtle’. 

“I-It’s just a t-t-turtle.” Bill said, coming up from under the water where he had gotten a good look at the turtle. 

After a while, they got bored with playing in the water and swam into shore. 

“Ay, Eds. You heard about that new spooky movie that came out? Pet Semetary?” Richie said, ruffling Eddie’s hair, a thing Eddie hated. 

“Yeah. And don’t call me Eds.” 

“You wanna watch it on Thursday? And don’t worry about those scary pets, spaghettio, I’ll protect ya.” 

“C-Can I tell y-you guys something?” Bill’s face was unreadable. Not even Stan, who knew Bill well could tell what was going on in his mind. 

“Of course.” 

“I saw G-Georgie last night. He w-w-was in my b-basement and he kept telling me s-s-s-something. You’ll f-f-float too. An-And there was this clown. H-He told me I started all this, bu-but I don’t k-know what t-that means.” 

“I saw something, too.” Bev spoke up, killing the silence that had lingered after Bill finished. “It’ll sound insane so I just have to show you.” 

“What are we gonna go to your house in our underwear?” Richie joked. 

“E-Everyone, go home and c-c-change. Meet a-at Bev’s h-h-house at 12.” Bill said. 

  
  


**\-------------------------------- **

  
  


All of the losers arrived at Bev’s promptly at noon, except for Richie, who insisted on being fashionably late. They met her on the firescape, where she was sitting, looking off into the distance. 

“It’s up in my bathroom. Follow me.” 

“Did you guys know that bathrooms are like hotspots for gross bacteria? I mean 56% of all deadly bacteria are picked up in bathrooms.” Eddie rambled as they climbed up the fire escape. 

“Where did you read that? The popular novel this is a bullshit statistic written by your mom?” 

“Do you ever shut up with the your mom jokes? At a certain point they just get old.” 

“Would you two be quiet?” Stan asked, looking down from a higher step on the fire escape. 

“Sir, yes sir.” Richie mocked a military voice and did a salute. Stan rolled his eyes. 

“This is the one.” Bev said pointing to a window. She snuck through it and lead everyone inside. 

The first thing that hit El was the smell. Rotten eggs and old beer, if she had to describe it. The living room was in complete disarray, empty beer bottles and old chinese food takeout littering the place. 

“Over here.” Bev showed them a narrow hallway and opened the bathroom door. Eddie started to gag. 

It was covered in blood. Ceiling to floor was drenched in the stuff. The light through the windows cast a red shadow because of the amount. 

“It came out of the sink. But there was a voice. And hair.” 

“Hair?” Will asked. 

“It wrapped around my arms and legs like vines.” 

“Jesus.” Stan mumbled. 

“W-We can’t l-leave the pl-place like this.” 

“I do believe this is Stan the Man’s specialty.” Richie joked. =

“We’re gonna need supplies. What do you have for cleaning stuff?” Stan turned to Bev. 

“Just bleach.” 

“Alright. Will and Eddie go down to the pharmacy and get as many dishrags as you can afford. Bill, you and me will go down to the laundromat and see if we can steal some shit other than bleach. Richie, your mom has really good window wipes. Go home and get them. El and Ben, you two stay here and start cleaning up with paper towels and bleach.” 

Everyone stared at Stan in disbelief. 

“Come on! Let’s go! Chop chop! We only have so long till her dad comes back.” Stan grabbed Bill’s hand and lead him out of the building and down to the laundromat. 

**\-------------------------------- **

“Do you have something we can put the detergent in?” Stan asked Bill. They had found a washer in the back of the store so the clerk couldn’t see them. 

“N-N-No? Could we put it in my so-sock?” 

“I guess.” Stan shrugged. “But we might need both of your socks.”

“Why do we need de-detergent anyway? B-B-Bev has some at her place.” 

“Yeah but her dad might see that some of its gone and ask why. I’m just covering our asses.” 

“Smart. Alm-Almost like you’ve d-d-done this before.” Bill handed Stan his socks, which were covered in dirt from Bill’s shoe and smelled like death. 

“Oh dude! Do you ever do laundry?” 

“O-Obviously.” 

“Doesn’t smell like it.” 

“Have you seen s-s-something like that before? Is that h-h-how you know w-w-what to do?” 

Bill saw Stan’s face change. He bit his lip and looked away, hurrying to stuff Bill’s sock with laundry detergent pods. 

“H-Have you?” 

“No!” Stan yelled suddenly. He looked around the store and continued with the pods. 

“Are you s-s-sure? I won’t j-j-judge.” 

“I said no, Bill! Now drop it!” 

Stan tied both of Bill’s socks at the top so no pods would fall out. He stuffed one in each of his pockets, which made his thighs look comically large and left the laundromat, with Bill running behind him. 

  
  


**\-------------------------------- **

  
  


At the pharmacy, Will and Eddie were struggling. They were told to buy dish rags but they couldn’t find them anywhere.

“Where would they be? With the dish soap right?” Will asked, scanning the aisle. 

“What else do you use dish rags for?” 

“Did you see something? Like Bill and Bev?” Will stopped scanning and turned to Eddie. 

“Yeah, but..” 

“But what?” 

“It felt so real. It wasn’t like a bad dream.”

“Are you saying Bill’s was a bad dream?” 

“It’s possible.”

“What’d you see?” 

“A leper. And a clown.” 

“A leper?” 

“You know, a person with leprosy, William. His face was all gross and melty and he was covered in bandaids and I swear I saw a part of his brain.” 

“Where’d you see him?” 

“That old house on Neibolt. He chased me into the back and then there was a clown with balloons. It was fucking terrifying. Did you see anything?” 

“No.” 

For once in his life, Will hadn’t seen the weird thing. It couldn’t be the Demogorgon or the Mind Flayer. For one, his true sight would have alerted him if something was here. And El had defeated the Mind Flayer. It was gone. This, this would be a whole new challenge. 

“Found ‘em!” Eddie said, holding up a pack of six rags. 

“How much?” 

“2.50. We’ve got three dollars.” 

“Nice. Let’s get them and go. The others’ll be waiting for us.” Will said. 

  
  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


Cleaning Bev’s bathroom was no easy task. Some of the blood had already dried to the sink, tub and toilet, making their job even harder. 

But Stanley Uris had never met a mess he couldn’t clean up. He had Richie and Bev working on getting the dried blood off the porcelain. Bill and Eddie were wiping up the floors. El was balancing on Ben’s shoulder to get the blood of the ceiling. Will was working on the walls and Stan was on the windows. 

The sun had begun to fade by the time they finished cleaning up. Eddie had just put the last round of rags in the washing machine when Bev looked down at her watch. 

“Shit!” She cursed. “My dad’s gonna be back any second now. You guys have to go.” 

“Are you sure? There’s still a little bit of blood behind the sink, I could stay and sneak out the window when I’m done.” Ben said. 

“No, no. I’ll take care of it myself. But you guys have to leave. Right now.” 

The front door opened. 

“Bevvie? Are you here?” They heard her dad ask. 

“Fuck. Everyone in my room and out the window. Now.” Bev whispered screamed at them. 

Silently as possible the club snuck through the small apartment and into Bev’s room. Ben’s eye got caught on a certain postcard, tucked away under some of Bev’s books. It was the poem he had written, she got it! Ben smiled to himself. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


Will and El were walking back to their house. After escaping Beverly’s, the club had gone their separate ways. 

“Tomorrow’s the fourth.” Will stated. 

“Yeah.” El responded, less than pleased to be discussing this. 

“I can’t believe it’s been a year. I miss Hawkins.” 

“Me too.” 

“I was talking to Mike the other day. Did something happen between you two?” 

“Why, what’d he say?” El stopped in her tracks and looked at Will. 

“Nothing, but he got all weird when I asked if he wanted to talk to you.” 

El narrowed her eyes. “We broke up.” 

“Was it mutual? Or…” 

“Long distance is hard. Always having to make time and sometimes he wouldn’t show up. Said he had forgotten.” 

Mike had never forgotten a call with Will. Ever. Mike had never forgotten about Will. But he forgot El? The girl he said he loved? What was going on with Mike? 

A feeling began to creep over Will. A feeling he never wanted to have again. His fingers started to tingle and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.  _ No. No. NO. This can’t be happening. It’s dead. There’s no way.  _

El saw Will touch the back of his neck and she was kicked into action mode. She looked around, watching, waiting for the Mind Flayer to reveal itself. 

“El, he’s back.”

A crack of lightning flashed and they were in the Upside Down.  _ No, please. I can’t go back.  _

Will grabbed El’s hand, knowing he would end up being powerless in this situation. 

“Found you.” A ghostly voice said that sent shivers up Will and El’s spines. They turned and saw Billy. 

His eyes were glazed and there was blood on his shirt, from where the mind flayer had attacked him. 

“You’re dead.” El’s voice came out a shaky and scared whisper. “Billy...this isn’t you.” 

“You don’t know anything about me.” 

“Hello, Will.” Another voice said. Will turned in another direction and saw Bob emerge from the void. 

“Bob.”

“You did this to me, Will.” Bob gestured to the gashes on his stomach. “You let them in.” 

“I’m sorry. Please.” 

“YOU’RE THE SPY!” Bob yelled in a voice Will had never heard before. It made him jump. 

“El…” A final voice said. 

El’s body froze. She saw Billy disappear, his place instead taken by Hopper. 

“Hop!” El cried out. 

“Why didn’t you fight with me? You could have saved me.” 

“No, no. You told me to stay.” El protested. 

Hopper stepped forward. “El, you should have come with me. I NEEDED you!” 

“Hopper, please.” 

“You did this! You did this! You caused all of this!” 

El and Will were back to back now, scared to death of the living ghosts before them. 

“This isn't real.” Will whispered, a tear rolling silently down his cheek. “It can’t be. The gate is closed.” 

“SPY! YOU DID THIS! YOU KILLED THOSE PEOPLE! AND YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SO MANY MORE! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED JOYCE! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED MIKE!” 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME, EL! YOU DID NOTHING! WHILE I DIED!” 

“El, what is that?” Will pointed into the dense forest of the Upside Down, where something stood out amongst the blue backdrop. 

It was a single red balloon, held by a clown. But it was like no clown Will had ever seen. It’s twisted smile reached up beyond its eyes. Its fiery red hair sprouting out each end of it’s head like a beacon. 

_ And there was this clown with balloons.  _

“It’s not real. None of this is real.” Will said. “It’s just like what Bev and Bill had. It’s It.” 

El looked over to where the clown was. With one nod of her head, she threw it back into a tree, releasing them from the Upside Down. Will didn’t get the chance to look at the clown again because the moment they were free, El had grabbed his hand and was pulling him away, back home. 

**\--------------------------------**

Instead of going to his house, Stan took his bike to the very outskirts of Derry. To the Hanlon Farm. 

Stan and Mike had been friends since preschool and when Mike’s parents decided to homeschool him, he and Stan had vowed to hang out whenever possible. 

Mike was the first person Stan had told he was gay. Mike was also the only one who knew that Stan had a crush on Bill, although he wasn’t very subtle. 

Stan knocked on Mike’s door and Mike’s grandfather answered. 

“Hello, Stanley.” 

“Hello, Mr. Hanlon. Is Mike home?” 

“He’s up in his room. You can head on up and let me know if you two need anything.” 

“Will do. Thank you very much.” Stan smiled and ran up to Mike’s room. 

Mike’s room was calm and quiet. His walls were scattered with old drawings that Mike had did when he was younger. Everything was neat and organized, which is why Stan liked it so much. It differed from the rooms of the losers which could be described as organized chaos. 

“You’ll never believe the day I’ve had.” Stan said, flopping down on Mike’s bed. 

Mike was sitting at his desk, working on some school stuff. 

“You need the music?” He asked, holding up a mixtape simply titled: Awesome Mix. 

“So much.” 

Mike popped the tape in his boombox and Madonna played throughout the room. Stan liked Madonna, although he would never tell a single soul, lest he be made fun of for the rest of his days.

“What’d Bill do this time?” 

“It wasn’t Bill. We let this new girl into our group, Beverly. Something weird happened to her.” 

Mike thought back to the butchershop. The screams. The bodies. The balloon. 

“She told us her sink, started….” 

“Started to do what?” 

“It exploded blood all over her bathroom.” 

Mike’s jaw dropped. “Bullshit!” 

“Nope. Saw it with my own eyes. It was mental. And she said hair wrapped around her like vines.” 

“Holy shit.” 

“We spent three hours cleaning up the blood. Three hours! And Bev wasn’t the only one. Bill saw something, too. He said he saw Georgie down in his basement. And a clown.” 

“I saw something, too.” Mike said. Except he didn’t feel like he had said it. 

Stan looked at him. He sat up on Mike’s bed, now dead serious. “What did you see?” 

“More heard. I was at the butchershop doing my rounds. And then, hands erupted from the door...and I heard these screams. Then, the door swung open and I saw them. Their bodies.” 

Stan knew who Mike was referring to. Mike had often told Stan of the dreams he had. The dreams of his family. 

“And there was a balloon, too. A red one.” 

Silence echoed through Mike’s room as Stan realized that the music had cut out. He could practically hear the echoey calliope music follow him, infesting every part of his brain. 

_ Come with us, Stanley. Float with us….  _

“Stan?” Mike snapped a finger in front of Stan’s face making him jump. “Did you see anything?” 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

_ Two months ago….  _

It was a dreary May night. The rain was coming down in buckets but that didn’t stop Stan. His father had told him that someone had seen a cardinal down by Tucker Park. It was rare to see a cardinal this far north so, with permission from his parents, Stan had gone out in the rain to see the cardinal. 

Trucker Park was in the middle of Derry. Standing over it all, casting a bleak shadow, was the Standpipe. 

The Standpipe was a large water tower with a small front building for general maintenance. The door was always locked but kids told stories of people who had drowned in the Standpipe. 

Stan hurried over to a bench that was a few yards away from the bird fountain. He took out his bird book and watched the fountain, waiting for that cardinal to return. He saw some birds, common ones. Robins and a fish crow. He must have been out there for an hour or so because it began to rain even harder, scaring off whatever birds were left at the fountain. 

He sighed, hating to go home without a sighting but he would catch a cold if he was out any longer. He got up off the bench and began to gather his things, tucking his bird book into his pocket. 

Stan had just made it past the Standpipe when he heard a door creak open. Forever curious, he turned and saw the door to the Standpipe was now open. He walked over and noticed that the padlock that had been on the door was now shattered on the ground. But there was no one else in the park, just Stan. 

An eerily shiver went up his spine as he walked into the Standpipe. He knew he shouldn’t, but it was interesting. He barely made it into the building when he started to hear something. It was the familiar tune of the Derry Fair. The music echoed down the stairs. 

Part of Stan wanted to run right up the stairs to be met with all the fun of a carnival. Popcorn, games, the food. But another part of him was begging for him to go home. 

Slowly, he ascended up the stairs and the smell of popcorn hit his nose. It was a relaxing sense, numbing the anxious part of his brain. 

_ Come float with us, Stanley. You know you want to. _

All ration left Stan’s brain as he climbed the stairs, eage to enjoy the carnival that shall be awaiting him. But when he reached the top of the stairs there was nothing more than a single red balloon, floating in solitude. 

Disappointed, Stan turned to walk back down the stairs when he heard a whisper in his ear. 

“Turn around. We’re right here. We’re waiting for you.” 

All ration and judgement returned to his brain and he ran down the stairs, not wanting to see who or what whispered in his ear. Stan ran over to the door but it was closed and locked. He pushed, putting all his weight on the door but it didn’t budge. 

From the stairs he heard footsteps slowly descend, hitting the stairs with a thump. And when the full person was revealed, Stan just about screamed. 

It was a person, but not quite. It was bodies. Decomposed, rotting. But it was walking and talking. It’s eyes were rolled back into its head, making the whites of the eyes visible.”

“We all float, Stanley. And you can too. You’ll float.”

Stan wanted to scream but his throat refused to make a sound. 

_ This isn’t real. It’s a dream. This isn’t real.  _

He grabbed his bird book out of his pocket and held it in front of him like a cross to a demon. 

“Starling! Crow! Robin!” Stan yelled. 

The body hissed. 

“Pigeons! Owls! Sandpiper!” He continued, his method clearly working. 

“You’re not real!” Stan said. He heard the door click open softly behind him. Wasting no time, he ran out of the Standpipe, nearly tripping on his own legs. 

**\--------------------------------**

“I tried to forget. I just wanted it to be a bad dream, or something. But then Bill said he saw it too and Bev’s bathroom.” 

“My grandfather says this dumb town is cursed. Every 27 years, something happens. Every 27 years, kids go missing. People say they see things.” 

Stan sighed. “Fuck.” 

“What?” 

“I’m gonna have to call the guys. They need to hear this.” Stan took his walkie talkie out his backpack. 

“Calling the losers club. Code red. Assemble at the Hanon Farm ASAP. Over.” 

“H-Heading now. O-Over.” Bill responded. 

“Should I pick up Bev? Over.” Someone asked, presumably Ben. 

“Definitely. Over.” 

“Be there in ten, Stan the Man.” 

“Richie you have to say over. Over.” Eddie said. “And I’m on my bike now. Over.” 

“Will and I are on our way. Over.” 

“Over and out.” 

Stan turned his attention back to Mike. 

“I’m finally gonna get to meet the infamous losers club.” 

“Trust me, they’re pretty chaotic.” 

It took ten minutes for everyone to show up because Bev insisted on riding her own bike, meaning she and Ben had to sneak around to get her bike. After Mike had been formally introduced to all the losers, he began: 

“My grandfather says this town is cursed. I’ve done the research. Every 27 years, something happens and kids go missing. Kids like Betty and Georgie. And people report seeing things. Their deepest fears. Even way back before Derry was founded, people have reported stuff like that. And tragedy happens here. Every 27 years. The Black Spot, The Iron Works. It’s all… My grandfather says it all one thing that causes it. One entity. I’ve done some research into things like that but I couldn’t find anything like it.” 

“Wait, wait. So every 27 years this… _ thing _ comes into Derry and eats kids? And then what? Goes into hibernation?” Will asked. 

“It’s like Cicadas. The bug that only shows up every ten years or whatever.” Richie said. 

“S-Stan. You s-s-said you got ri-rid of it with b-b-birds?”

“I don’t know. Something told me it would work. And it did. Or maybe the door just opened again.” 

“We should tell someone.” El said. 

“Who? The police?” Ben replied. 

“Hello Chef Wilbert. Yes, we all saw a clown and a corpse and blood that only we can see and a leper.” Richie joked. “He’ll stick us with the psychos.” 

“W-We only have u-us.” 

“Hear that, homeschool?” Richie nudged Mike. “You’re in the losers club, now.” 

“Everyone go to the Fourth of July parade tomorrow. We’ll come up with a plan. I have to get home before my dad notices I’m gone.” 

“Joyce and Jonathan’ll freak if we don’t get home soon.” Will said to El. “You know how they are.” 

The losers left Mike’s house, except Stan who decided to stay the night. He just felt safer in the presence of a loser. If they were together, It couldn’t get them. 


	3. Bill Denbrough Rode to Beat the Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to neibolt

Will woke up the next day feeling uneasy. At the lab, the doctors had told him about post traumatic stress disorder and how it can get worse around the anniversary of the incident. Today was one of those days. All he could think about was Starcourt, hiding behind a car, listening to the sounds of the Mind Flayer getting closer and closer, the fear that it could smell Will knowing he was the weak boy who had gotten lost. 

He knew it was hard on El, too. It had been a whole year since Hopper had died. And Mike dumping, or breaking up with (Will didn’t know the difference), her probably didn’t help. And now this whole ‘It’ situation. It was all crashing down on the Byers siblings. 

The club met in the park, where they was a small concert going on from some local cover band none of them had ever heard of. 

“So, what did everyone see?” Bev asked. 

“G-Georgie. And a c-clow-wn.” 

“My dad. And a clown.” Ben said. 

Mike sighed. “My parents died a fire. I saw their bodies. And a red balloon.” 

“Blood. No clown.” 

“A leper. And a clown.” 

“A corpse. And a balloon.” 

Other than Richie, who hadn’t yet seen anything, Will and El were the only two who hadn’t spoken. To tell them what they saw, El and Will would have to reveal the whole Hawkins conspiracy. 

“You guys see anything?” Mike asked, nodding at Will and El. 

Will looked at El and El looked at Will. They seemed to have a mental conversation. 

_ Do we tell them?  _

_ We have to.  _

“It’s a long story.” Will began. 

“Well, we got nothing but time, Byers.” Richie joked. 

“When I was 12, I got kidnapped. By a monster called the Demogorgon. He brought me to an alternate plane of reality called the Upside Down. While I was there, El, whose full name is Eleven, broke out of Hawkins Lab.” 

“I had been a lab rat. Given powers and experimented on.” 

“El killed the Demogorgon and I was rescued from the Upside Down. But El went to the Upside Down when she killed the Demogorgon, until she escaped and started living with our Chief of Police, Jim Hopper. The next year at Halloween, I started seeing the Upside Down again and shifting through the two planes of reality because of my True Sight. I got possessed by the Mind Flayer-” 

“Who is the hive mind of the Upside Down. He controls everything.” 

“And had to go back to Hawkins Lab. While I was there, things happened and El came out of hiding and closed the gate.” 

“Or so I thought. Last year, we found out that I had trapped the Mind Flayer on the outside. He took over our friend’s older brother and started killing people in town to form the Mind Flayer.” 

“It was really gross. We also found out that Russians had been building under our local mall, but that’s not too important. El defeated the Mind Flayer with me and my friend’s help and we banished it. But...Hopper died too. And we left Hawkins for good.” 

A stunned silence followed. Every single losers jaw was dropped in pure shock. 

“You’re shitting me, right?” Richie asked. 

El and Will shook their heads. 

“Use your powers.” Eddie said.

El looked over at an abandoned cart of fried dough. Her nose started to drip blood as she used her powers to drizzle a piece of fried dough in caramel and bring it over to her. She happily munched it down as the losers club stared at her in shock. 

“That’s not all she can do.” Will smiled. “She can find people, too. She found me in the Upside Down and one time, she spied on her boyfriend Mike. It was hilarious.”

“I never knew boys could be so gross.” El replied, shuddering as she thought about the things she had seen in Mike’s basement. 

“Tell me about it.” Bev mumbled. 

“Y-You can f-f-find people?” Bill asked. “C-C-Could you find G-G-Georgie?” 

“I’ll need a picture of him, a blindfold and someplace quiet.”

“D-Done.” 

**\--------------------------------**

They were in Bill’s garage. He had closed the door and covered the windows so it was completely dark. El was sitting on the floor, in front of the losers club. Will was behind her, tying the dish towel Bill had gotten as a blindfold. 

“Are you sure your up to this?” Will whispered. 

“Of course.” 

Will sat with the club and they all watched El with unwavering seriousness. 

“This is insane!” Richie exclaimed suddenly. 

“Richie.” El warned. 

“Right, quiet. Sorry.” 

El nodded and Mike turned on the radio, unleashing a loud static that flooded the garage. 

El was in a black plane. A plane she was familiar with. She thought of that photo of Georgie sitting in front of her. She thought about it long and hard, memorizing every small detail. 

Suddenly, she saw him. El walked over to him, noticing his body was floating in water. His face was paler than pale and his lips were blue. His entire left arm was missing, replaced with a gaping hole. The sleeve of his yellow raincoat was red with blood. 

El knelt down next to his body and held Georgie’s remaining hand. 

“It’ll be okay.” She whispered. “We’ll look after Bill for you.” 

Even though Georgie Denbrough was presumed dead, El could have sworn she saw him smile at that. Slowly, she removed her blindfold and returned to the land of the living, where the losers club was waiting expectantly. 

She looked at Bill. Poor Bill. His face was so full of hope that he almost smiled. 

“I’m sorry.” El said to him. 

Bill’s face fell. Tears formed in his eyes. All of the losers looked to him, all wanting to say something but silence prevailed. 

“Bill, I’m so-” Stan began to say before Bill stood up and cut him off. 

“We’re g-going to k-kill It. It took G-G-Georgie and It’s g-g-going to die.” Bill wiped his tears on his sleeve and went over to his dad’s work bench. He grabbed the map of Derry sewers and tacked it up to the wall. 

“Eddie, you said you s-s-saw it at N-Neibolt.” 

“Yeah, but Bill don’t you think-” 

“That must be where it lives then.” 

“The well house was built there. Back in the 1700’s. That’s where the settlers disappeared.” Ben pointed out. 

“So let’s g-g-go. Let’s g-go to the h-house and k-kill It.” Bill lifted up the garage door and began to walk over to his bike.

“Bill, wait a second.” Richie started. “I mean, let’s come up with a plan of attack.” 

Bill didn’t listen, he hopped on his bike and began to pedal out of his driveway. 

Stan stood, walking over to his bike. 

“Guys, come on. Are we just gonna let him kill It by himself?” 

The losers stood, grabbed their bikes and hurried after Bill. 

They were truly a sight to see on that day. The entire losers club, biking as fast as they could, serious looks of determination across all of their faces. They were going to Neibolt. And they were going to kill that clown. 

Silver, Bill’s bike, screeched to a halt outside of Neibolt, and the rest of the group stopped behind him. The house seemed to loom over them, a truly magnificent foe. 

Bill dropped his bike and lead the losers up to the door. Just as he was about to turn the knob, Stan exclaimed. 

“Wait! Bill, this is crazy.” 

“What do you want me to do, Stan? Pretend it’s not happening? Wait for one of us to get taken next? This has to end! Cause I can’t pretend it’s not. Because every night, I walk by his room and he’s not there. So walking into this house, is easier than walking into my own. And I don’t give two FUCKS if I’m going in there by myself, I’m going to kill that fucking clown.” 

“Wow.” Richie muttered. “He didn’t stutter once.” 

“We should have a lookout.” Eddie said. “We  _ are  _ trespassing.” 

“W-Who want to be l-l-lookout?” Bill asked. 

Everyone’s hand shot up but Will. 

They pulled sticks, forcing Richie, Eddie, Bill and Will inside the house. 

“You guys are lucky we weren’t measuring dicks.” Richie said. 

“Would you shut up?” Eddie replied. 

“God, what’s that smell?” Will asked. 

“It s-s-smells like s-s-someone died in here.” 

Richie walked into a different room, drawn by a poster suspended in cobwebs. It had his face on it under a bright red MISSING title. 

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit!” Richie yelled, frantically reading through it. 

“Richie, what is it?” Eddie ran over to him. 

“It’s my face! That’s my shirt! Am I missing? Am I gonna go missing?”

“Richie, it’s not real. It’s It. You’re not missing you’re right here.” Eddie tried to calm him. Will and Bill ran in the room and watched Richie and Eddie. 

“I don’t wanna go missing, Eds.” 

“You’re not gonna go missing. We’ll keep you safe.” 

A scream echoed through the house. It wasn’t Richie’s or any of the others. It was someone else, trapped inside the house. Richie dropped his missing poster. They all looked at each other and ran up the stairs, to the source of the sound. 

They arrived in a narrow hallway with doors on each end. On the far end, the door was open and a figure was lying in the doorway. 

“Betty?” Will called. 

“Help me.” Betty whispered. 

“Eddie…” A voice was heard in Eddie’s ear. He turned and saw a shadow moving behind a door. 

“Guys.” He whispered quietly. “Do you see that?” 

But they had already began walking forward towards Betty. 

“It’s time to take your pills, Eddie.” The voice said again. 

Further down the hallway, Will, Bill and Richie were close to Betty, when she was tugged away from the door and into the room, out of sight. 

They rushed in after her. 

“Where the fuck did she go?” Richie looked around. 

The door at the end of the hallway creaked open. 

“Eddie…” The voice said one last time. Eddie turned to run to his friends. 

“Guys!” He screamed as he saw the door close, trapping him outside. 

“Eddie!” Richie ran to the door and tried to get it open again as he heard Eddie screaming on the other side. 

On the outside, the floor under Eddie had opened up into a gaping hole, blocking his path to the door. 

“It’s time for your pills, Eddie.” A hand crept onto Eddie’s shoulder and turned him around. He came face to face with the leper. Everything started to turn to black as he fell into the hole beneath him and broke a table. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


“Eddie!” Richie, Will and Bill were trying to get the door open again. 

“Richie…” Someone said. It sounded like Eddie. It was calling from a room next to the door. 

Richie walked in slowly and the door slammed behind him. 

“Richie! Ah fuck!” Richie heard Will from the other side. 

The room was decorated with clown figurines. Hundreds of them. 

“Jesus.” Richie muttered as he walked forward into the room, where a coffin was sitting on a table. 

He opened the lid to reveal his missing poster, again, tapped to the lid with the word “FOUND” scrawled over it in blood. 

A sheet was covering the bottom of the coffin. Fear crawling over his body, he pulled the sheet back and a body was there.  _ His body.  _ Maggots were crawling all over it. 

Richie slammed the lid and backed away from the table when it sprung open again and a clown popped out. Richie backed up so fast his back hit the door. 

“Beep beep, Richie.” The clown said before running at him, mouth open to reveal rows and rows of teeth. 

Richie screamed with pure terror and his world faded to black

**\--------------------------------**

  
  


Will was trying at the door Richie was behind while Bill was at the one Eddie was behind. Suddenly, they disappeared and replaced with the wall. 

“What the f-f-fuck?” 

Three doors materialized on the wall, each with a different label scrawled in blood. The farthest left was labeled “NOT SCARY AT ALL”. The middle was “SCARY” and the last was “VERY SCARY” 

Will and Bill looked at each other before running to the “NOT SCARY AT ALL” door. They opened it and heard someone whisper: 

“Have you seen my shoe?” 

A light clicked on and they saw Betty Ripsom, hanging from chains. Her entire lower half was completely gone, chewed off it looked like. She screamed and Will shut the door. 

“THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE UPSIDE DOWN!” 

“HELP ME!” They heard Eddie scream from somewhere else in the house. “RICHIE!!” 

“It’s not r-r-real, remember? It’s just It. It’s n-n-not real.” 

“It’s not real.” Will repeated. 

Bill flung open the “VERY SCARY” door and it was the normal hallway. 

“Come on!” Bill ran downstairs with Will in tow as they followed Eddie’s screams. 

**\--------------------------------**

Richie regained consciousness as Eddie’s screams basically rung through his brain. 

_ Neibolt. Clowns. Eddie’s in trouble. Get off your ass and save him.  _

Richie stood and saw that the door was now open but Will and Bill were gone. He walked out of the room and saw them running down the stairs. 

“Guys!” He ran over to them 

“We have to get Eddie.” Will said. 

They all ran into a different room which seemed to be the source of the noise. They saw Eddie, cradling one of his arms in his lap. Inches from Eddie’s face was the clown. 

“Eddie!” Richie exclaimed, happy to see that Eddie was alive. 

“Is this not real enough for you, Bill? Am I not real enough for you?” The clown asked, his voice low and creepy. “It was real enough for Georgie.” 

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Bill screamed. 

The clown stood and walked over to them. 

_ This is it. _ Will thought.  _ It wasn’t the Demogoran that got me, it was Bill’s inability to keep his mouth shut.  _

Just as the clown was about to speak, Bev ran into the room and speared it in the face using a piece of fencing. Stan, Mike, El and Ben ran in after her. 

Richie wasted no time while the clown was distracted, running over to Eddie and grabbing him in his arms. Eddie’s arm was broken, completely bent backwards. Everyone else ran over too but the clown turned around. 

The spear was stuck through its face, making blood pour out all over. They all started to scream as it walked towards them, each one fearing for their lives. 

“Don’t look at it, Eddie, look at me!” Richie grabbed Eddie’s head, forcing his eyes on Richie. 

“Holy God, pray for me!” Mike muttered. 

Stan had his back pressed up against the wall and grabbed at the first thing he saw for comfort. Bill’s hand. Bill looked up at him and squeezed his hand back. 

Just as the clown was about to reach them, El jumped out in front of the group. With the flick of her head she pushed the clown back, sending it flying through the wall and into the next room. 

“That should take it out. Grab Eddie and let’s go.” El wiped her nose. 

“Guys…?” Ben pulled a hand away from his stomach which came up bloody. When the clown flew back, the fencing had scratched into his stomach. 

“Oh god.” Bev said.

“I’m gonna snap your arm back into place.” Richie said to Eddie. 

“DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME! DO NOT!” Eddie screamed in protest as Richie grabbed Eddie’s arm. “RICHARD I’M FUCKING WARNING YOU!” 

“One, two, three!” Richie snapped Eddie’s arm upward, which caused Eddie to howl in pain. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


They all watched in silence as Eddie’s mom’s car sped off into the distance. 

“W-We know where It l-lives. W-W-We can go b-b-back and kill It next time.” 

“No! No next time, Bill! You’re insane!” Stan yelled. 

“S-Stan come on, I k-k-know your s-s-scared but w-we can do this.” 

“Are you sure Bill? Eddie was nearly killed! And look at this motherfucker!” Richie yelled pointing at Ben. “He’s leaking hamburger helper!” 

“Beep beep.” Ben said. 

“All I’m saying is, it’s time to face facts. Georgie is  _ dead _ . Stop trying to get us killed too!” 

This brought silence over everyone. They all watched, tense, as Bill approached Richie. 

“T-Take it back, as-asshole.” 

“No way! You couldn’t save him but you can still save yourself!” 

“Richie!” Bev yelled. 

It almost happened in slow motion. Bill shoved Richie and Richie shoved back. Everyone could see the anger mounting in Bill’s eyes. Before anyone could stop him, Bill grabbed Richie’s shoulder and punched him square in the jaw, knocking Richie to the ground. 

“Bill!” Will shouted as Stan and Mike ran over to Richie to hold him back from punching Bill. 

“You’re a fucking loser, Bill! You’re all just a bunch of fucking losers!” Richie spat, trying hard to shake Stan and Mike off him. 

Ben and Will had grabbed Bill so he couldn’t get another swing in. El and Bev were in the middle, trying to calm everyone down. 

“This is what It wants! Don’t you understand?” Bev was yelling. “It wants to divide us!” 

“Fuck It! And fuck all you fucking losers! You nearly killed Eddie!” Richie said as he finally got Mike and Stan to let him go. He walked through the group, bumping Bill’s shoulder. Richie grabbed his bike and rode off down the street, the same way Mrs. Kaspbrak’s car had gone. 

Stan was next. 

“S-S-Stan, wait!” 

“Bill, you’re crazy. I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna do this anymore.” 

Mike followed suit, not even addressing the group. El and Bev looked at eachother. 

“I’m going home.” Bev said. “If you want to try again, you’ll need everyone.” 

Just as Bev was about to get on her bike, El called out. 

“Bev, can I come with you?” Bev nodded and El hopped on the back of her bike. 

“El, come on.” Will said. 

“I’ve done this before. It never ends well.” 

Ben, Bill and Will watched as they rode off to Bev’s house. 

“I’m gonna go home and find a way to explain this to my mom.” Ben gestured at his stomach. “I’ll go back, Bill. But only if you have a plan. And the full support of the losers.” 

Will and Bill were the only two left standing in the street. 

“A-Are you g-g-gonna leave me, t-too?” 

“I’ve been that kid, Bill. I’ve been Betty Ripsom and Georgie. All I wanted was for someone to find me. I’m not gonna rob someone else of that hope.”


	4. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF forgot to post sry big yikes

It had been a month since they went to Neibolt and the losers club was in shambles. Will and El barely talked to each other. Stan had had his Bar Mitzvah and Richie was the only loser in attendance. Eddie had discovered that his mother had been feeding his dummy pills, which he mistakenly called gazebos. Bev had cut her hair. 

One day, Bill was out in town. He was going to meet up with Will when he spotted something on a telephone pole. It was a piece of paper. 

  
  
  


_ MISSING!  _

_ Beverly Marsh _

_ Last seen July 29th wearing a white dress and black boots. 14 years old with red hair.  _

_ If seen please call Derry Police Department _

  
  


Bev was missing? It had to be It. Bill needed to get the losers club back to Neibolt but it was gonna take some convincing. He decided to meet Will first and then the two of them could rally everyone else. 

Will was outside the movie theater looking at a poster for Stand By Me. 

“W-Will!” Bill ran over to him. 

“What is it?” 

“It got B-B-Bev. I saw the m-missing poster.” 

“Oh fuck. Are you sure?” 

“W-What else w-w-would it be?”

“We have to get everyone. But I’m not getting Richie. You punched him, you have to apologize. I’ll get El and Ben. If you get Richie and Stan, Richie will get Eddie and Stan will get Mike. Then we’ll go back to Neibolt, save Bev and kill it.” 

Bill nodded. 

Will went back to his house to not only get El, but some reinforcements. He went into his room and grabbed his Supercom off the bed. 

“Mike, come in. Over.” 

Static. 

“Mike, come in. I need you. Over.” 

“Will?” A voice asked. It sounded older than Mike. 

“Mike, you have to say over. Over.” 

“Well, I’m not Mike. It’s Steve. Over.” 

“Steve? How’d you get this channel?” 

“Dustin gave it to me when me and Robin were inducted into the party. Over.” 

“I need you to get the party. Everyone. Including Robin. You have to drive up to Derry, Maine. Once you get there, go to Neibolt street. The rundown house. Go in and go to the basement and down the well. Follow the sounds of voices until you find me, El and the losers club. Over.” 

“Wait a minute, what! Why? Over. 

“There’s a thing. It’s a clown but it takes the form of your deepest fear and it eats kids. It ate my friend’s brother and it’s gonna eat my new friend unless we save her. But we need help. The party has experience with this sort of thing. I need them.” 

“And this...clown lives in the house? Over.” 

“Yes, Steve. Just get everyone and get up here as fast as you can. Over.” 

“I’ll do it. Over and out.” 

Will sighed. He spun around to get El but saw her in his doorway. 

“Bev’s missing?” 

“Taken. By It.” 

“And you called the party?” 

“They can help us.”

“Bill’s gathering everyone up?” 

“Everyone but you and Ben.” 

“He doesn’t know about the party?” 

“No. Now I have to go get Ben on board. Coming with?” 

El nodded and followed Will outside and to his bike. 

  
  
  


**\--------------------------------**

Bill found in Richie in the arcade. He was playing Street Fighter. 

“R-Richie!” 

“Sup, dickweed. See this guy I’m hitting? I’m pretending it’s you.” Richie replied, not looking away from his game. 

“It took B-B-Bev.” 

“What?” 

“It, R-Richie. The c-clown.” 

“Yikes. Sounds like a problem for old Big Bill.” Richie still didn’t take his eyes off Street Fighter. 

“I’m s-s-sorry. I s-s-shouldn’t have punched you. Now will you p-p-please help us?” 

This got Richie’s attention. “You’re sorry?” 

“Wh-Why wouldn’t I b-b-be?” 

“No one who ever punches me is sorry about it.” 

“I’m your f-f-friend, Rich. Of c-c-course I’m s-s-sorry.” 

“Well then I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said what I said.” 

“C-C-Can you get-” 

“Eddie? Of course I can. I haven’t seen spaghetti head since he broke his arm.” 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

Eddie was lying in his room, desperately scribbling over writing on his cast. Greta Bowie had written “LOSER” in very thick black marker. Eddie was trying to counteract this with a red marker making it out to say “LOVER”. He heard a tapping noise at his window and saw tiny rocks hitting it. 

He sighed, knowing who this was and opened the window. Richie was standing below, hand full of rocks. 

“Richie, what do you want?” 

“Let me up so I can tell you, spaghettio.” 

Eddie waved him up and Richie struggled to climb up Eddie’s drain pipe until he arrived in Eddie’s room. 

“Who did that to your cast?” Richie asked, grabbing Eddie’s arm and looking at his cast. 

“Greta.” 

“That bitch!”

“Why are you here, Rich?” 

“It took Bev. Bill wants us all to go back.” 

“No! No way! I’m not going back!” 

“Eddie, I don’t know what happened to you but-” 

“You know what happened to me? That fucking  _ thing _ was three inches from my face! It drooled all over me and told me it was gonna eat me! That’s what fucking happened!” 

Eddie was crying now. Richie hugged him and sat down on the bed with Eddie wrapped in his arms. 

“Eds, hey. It’s alright.” 

“No, Richie! It’s not alright! Because I called out for you. And you weren’t there.” 

“I’m here now. And I’m not gonna leave, I swear.” 

“I’m so scared. Every night, I can hear It.” 

“If we kill it, you won’t hear it. But you have to come with us. It only works when were all together.”

Eddie broke down crying into Richie’s arms. He nodded. 

“I’ll do it.” 

**\--------------------------------**

“S-S-Stan! Open u-up!” Bill yelled to Stan’s window. Stan’s room was on the first floor, so it was relatively easy to sneak in, except Stan kept his window locked. 

“Why?” 

“S-S-Seriously? It’s freezing out h-h-here!” 

“Bill, it’s August.”  _ It was worth a try.  _

“P-P-Please. We have to t-t-talk.” 

“About what, Bill?” Stan opened his window but blocked Bill’s entrance in. 

“I-I-It took Bev. We have to go b-b-back.” 

“I’m not going back. Not when we almost died.” 

“It’ll be d-d-different this t-time. I promise.” 

“Why? Cause we’re ‘better prepared’? We’ll get our asses handed to us. Again. But maybe this time someone will die.” 

“Stan! D-Don’t say that.” 

“It’s true. It almost ate Eddie. It sliced Ben open. What’s stopping it from killing one of us?” 

“W-We are. W-When were t-t-together, it c-can’t hurt us.” 

“It’s not real. None of it is.” 

“W-We all s-s-saw it.” 

“How are we supposed to fight it? We don’t have any weapons.” 

“B-But you do, S-Stan. You have you b-b-bird b-book.” 

“Fuck the bird book! It’s not a weapon! I need like a gun or a bat or a knife.” 

“T-Then get one. Not a g-gun, though. You have k-kn-knives in the kitchen you could b-bring.” Bill offered. “As long as you feel s-s-safe.” 

“I’d feel a lot safer with you.” Stan sighed and turned away from the window, letting Bill into his room. 

“W-What does that m-mean?” 

Stan sat on his bed and fidgeted with his fingers. “I just mean ...well, we’re friends… and, uh, friends have each other’s back.” 

“D-Do you think I don’t have your b-b-back?” 

“No, not at all, I’m just saying…. Eh, fuck it.” Stan said and turned towards Bill and connected their lips together. 

Bill pulled away momentarily. “D-Dude, this is p-pretty gay.” He smiled. 

“Shut up.” Stan smiled back before kissing Bill again. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

It was a day later. The whole club had assembled at Neibolt. Stan had convinced Mike, who brought a bolt gun from his farm. Stan, as promised, had a small cheese knife tucked into the waistline of his pants. Ben had taken no convincing at all to show up, as the moment Richie and Eddie told him Bev was taken, he sprung to action. 

Will had heard nothing from the party or Steve, but he hoped they were coming. They were gonna need all the help he could get. 

“Guys, s-spikes.” Bill said, bending down and shoving some fence spikes into his bag. 

Mike loaded his bolt gun and Stan unsheathed his knife. Richie found a bottle on the ground and tried to break it on the steps but ended up shattering it completely. 

“Was worth a try.” He shrugged as he tossed it aside. 

Bill stood in front and lead the group into the jaws of Neibolt. 


	5. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the party has entered the chat 
> 
> be prepared

Mike was lying in bed. It was probably 11 at night, but he couldn’t sleep. It was one of those nights where all he could think about was Will. Will’s hair, Will’s smile, Will’s drawings, Will’s words, the way Will would fidget with his hands while making a decision during D&D. 

A binder full of Will’s art was open and Mike was flipping through it. He had finally gotten to his favorite piece. It was done with colored pencil and was of Mike’s paladin and Will’s cleric. 

“Wheeler!” Someone said and Mike jumped. Steve was at Mike’s window in full Scoops Ahoy attire.

“Steve? What the hell? You gave me a heart attack!” 

“Come on, we’re going to Maine!” 

“Maine?” 

“Just get in the car and I’ll explain.” 

Mike got up off his bed and opened the window. He followed Steve out to the car where he saw the rest of the party and Robin. 

“Now can you tell us what’s going on?” Lucas asked, clearly annoyed. 

Steve started the car and began to back out of the driveway. “Will needs us.” 

“What! Is Will okay? Is something wrong?” Mike asked, practically hoping out of his seat. 

“Yes, calm down. I’ll tell you the story. It all started 20 minutes ago-” 

“Steve, if you don’t hurry up, I will slap you.” Robin said, also wearing her Scoops uniform. 

“Okay, you know what fine. There’s a clown that stole Will’s new friend and he needs our help to go fight the clown thing that’s been feasting on children and we have to go to some house and down a well and find his losers club, alright? Is that fast enough for you, Robin?” 

“Wait, WHAT!” Dustin screamed. 

“Oh and this clown thing can turn into your deepest darkest fear. And it eats kids. So…” 

“Nevermind, please tell us this entire story.” 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

  
  


They had made it well out of Hawkins by the time Steve finished. 

“Oh my god! Will could be hurt! Or dying! Steve drive faster, we have to get to Maine!” 

“Jesus, Mike, wouldya calm down. I’m already five over the limit.” 

“I’m concerned!” 

“But not for your girlfriend?” Lucas raised his eyebrow. 

“Ex girlfriend.” Mike mumbled. 

“And when did this happen?” Max asked, making that face she always makes when Mike fucks up. 

“Like a month ago. Long distance sucks.” 

“Hey, Dustin’s long distance.” Steve called. 

“Me and Suzie are on the rocks. Her parents found out and she hasn’t radioed me for a few days.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, man.” Steve replied. 

“Can we get back to why Mike is so concerned?” Robin asked. 

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, he blushed. “Well.. it’s just… he’s my best friend and he’s about to go into some clown lair or wherever the fuck with something that eats kids and people he hasn’t know for a while and I’m worried about his safety cause he’s my favorite person in the world and I love him so much and it would really suck if he died after I became single.” 

“You love him?” Lucas, and everyone else’s mouths were agape. 

“Yes?” 

“Dude. Gay high five.” Robin and Mike high fived. 

“If you’re gay, did you never like El?” Max questioned. 

“No, I did, I did.” 

“But you also like Will..?” 

“Yes.” 

“Guys, would you stop grilling him? Be happy he’s getting some. I pegged him for the single one, honestly. Now I’m shifting over to Lucas.” Steve said. 

“Dude! I’m dating Max!” 

“She’s dumped you seven times.” 

“Eight. We’re done, Sinclair.” 

“Wha-” 

“If we’re all telling truths about ourselves I am too. I love El.” 

“Dude, nice. Lesbian high five.” 

“Now, back on track. We don’t know what we’re heading into when we get there. So I want everyone to rest up, and be on the alert when we arrive. I don’t wanna have to explain to your parents that one of you shitheads got eaten by a clown.” 

“Steve?” Dustin asked. “I have to go to the bathroom..” 

“Are you serious, Henderson? Did you not go before we left?”

“I was going to, I swear!” 

The entire car groaned. 

“Can you hold it?” Robin asked. 

Dustin shook his head. 

“There’s a 7/11 not far from here.” Max said. 

“We can get snacks, too!” 

“Alright, three groups. Me and Dustin will hit the bathroom.” Steve led, being the mom he is. “Rob and Max get us some beverages and Lucas and Mike get new snacks. Regroup at the car.” Steve pulled into the 7/11. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

“Dude, this bathroom fucking reeks.” Dustin said, walking in. It wasn’t really a bathroom, it was more of an outhouse. It was a small room with a toilet and a sink. It was gross. There was strange goo everywhere and spiders the size of Steve’s hair in the corners. 

“Well it’s a 7/11 bathroom, what did you expect?” Steve called from outside the door. “Why didn’t you tell me about you and Suzie?”

“We’re not actually on the rocks. I just felt bad for Mike. That we were nailing the long distance and he wasn’t.” 

“Between you and me, he was nailing the long distance just not with his girlfriend.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“Nance was telling me that every Tuesday, Mike would run down to Cerebro to call Will. He never misses it. But ‘apparently’ he couldn’t find the time to talk to El.” 

“Are you saying he broke up with El cause of Will?” 

“He literally told us he was in love with Will ...like twenty minutes ago.”

“Damn. Think El’ll be pissed?” 

“I’ve spoken to El like three times, Henderson. I have no idea.” 

Dustin opened the door and walked back outside. 

“Oh god, fresh air smells so good.” 

“Don’t be dramatic.” Steve walked into the bathroom and gagged. “The smell! Oh sweet fuck!” 

“I told you.” 

**\--------------------------------**

  
  


“So El, huh?” Robin asked while she and Max were looking for beverages. 

“Yeah. It wasn’t always like that. She used to hate me. And then she came to me for advice one day and we bonded. And the more and more we hung out, I realized I liked her even more than I ever liked Lucas. What about you?” 

“Tammy Thompson, seventh grade. She liked Steve and all I wanted was for her to like me.” 

“I don’t get how anyone could like Steve. His hair is kinda dumb.” Max said and Robin laughed. 

“He would get bagel crumbs all over the floor at school.” Robin giggled. 

“Check us out.” Max said. “Only lesbains in Hawkins.” 

“Uh, God I hope not. I don’t wanna have to wait till I leave this shithole town to get a girlfriend. Say, if El does end up liking you, are you gonna try and do long distance?” 

“Obviously, but maybe it’ll be different cause her powers.” 

“Ask Mike. He’s the one who went long distance with her.” 

“That doesn’t count. He was in love with Will.”

“Do you think Steve would want Fanta or Coke?” Max held up two bottles. 

“Coke. Lucas, water or Coke?” 

“Coke. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lucas drink water.” Max paused.“Should we get drinks for this mysterious ‘losers club’?” 

“And do what with them? Chuck bottles of Coke at a clown?” 

“Damn.” Max realized. “We didn’t bring any weapons.” 

“Maybe we could find something around here to use?” Robin offered. 

As they walked through the aisle looking for anything to use as a weapon, Mike and Lucas were on the opposite side of the 7/11. 

“Doritos or Cheetos?” Lucas asked. 

“Doritos. Less mess. Do you think Will likes me?” 

“Kinda loaded question. I don’t know. Clearly, I suck at this whole  _ romance  _ thing.” 

“You got Max back seven times.” 

“She’s gay, Mike. It’s not that impressive.” Lucas sighed, grabbing a small bag of Funyuns. “But I think he likes you.” 

“Really?” 

“I might suck at romance but you’re terrible. Did you not see how you practically ignored me and Dustin when Will came back from the Upside Down? Or how he only felt safe from the Mind Flayer when he was with you? And how pissed he was when you  _ only _ spent time with El?”

“I mean you were all pretty pissed at me.” 

“Will was different, man. He was angry. Angrier than I’ve ever seen him. He  _ destroyed _ Castle Byers over you, Mike. He ripped up photographs and took a bat and beat that tiny castle to smithereens. Because  _ you _ wouldn’t play D&D with  _ him _ . 

Mike thought back to that night. Will had seemed different. Clingy. And what Mike said in the rain. 

_ And for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?  _

_ El’s not stupid, okay! It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”  _

Mike was way out of line. But it was a hard summer. And they repaired their friendship and things were back to the way they were. Except Mike was painfully in love.

“Mike! You have to come here!” Lucas yelled. As Mike was absorbed into his own thoughts, Lucas had wandered away. 

He was standing in front of a large display of fireworks, taller than he was. There were all kinds of fireworks piled up. Roman Candles, Molotov Cocktail, Dragon’s Tears, and Excalibur. But at the very top, was the most amazing, destructive firework Mike had ever seen. 

“Is that-” Mike had begun to ask. 

“Satan’s spawn. The most powerful firework known to man. Remember what we did to the Mind Flayer with this baby?” 

Mike felt Steve, Dustin, Robin and Max standing behind them. The display seemed to tower over all of them, a constant reminder of their past. 

“Steve, can we-” Dustin started. 

“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.” 

_ Oh fuck yeah!  _


	6. The Battle of Derry (Act One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is ladies and gents the moment youve all been waiting for (except its a two parter) 
> 
> hehe its also my birthday so how fitting

Every creak on the steps as they walked down into the basement sounded like a scream. It sent shivers up their spines. 

Sitting in the middle of the basement was a well. They all walked over to it and looked down at the seemingly endless drop. 

“Beverly!” Ben called, his voice echoing. 

“I see an opening.” El waved her flashlight down the well and illuminated a small break. 

“Question is, how do we get down there?” Stan asked. 

“El could float us down.” Eddie offered. 

“Or we could use this.” Mike grabbed a rope off the ground. There was a hook that Mike and Bill tied the rope to. 

Stan descended first, followed by Eddie and Richie. Then was Ben, Will and El. Finally Bill and Mike went. 

However as Mike was climbing down, the rope started to rip. 

“Mike! Quick!” 

Mike tried his best to reach the rest of the club but the rope snapped. As if on instinct, Bill and Ben put their hands out and grabbed onto to Mike’s arms. 

“Holy shit!” Eddie yelled as Bill and Ben pulled Mike up. 

“My entire life flashed before me eyes, god.” 

“What life?” Richie joked. 

When no one chimed in with a ‘beep beep’ the losers realized something was wrong. Someone was missing.

“Who’s gone?” Eddie asked, scanning the losers club. 

“S-Stan! He’s g-gone!” 

“Stan!” Richie called out into the tunnels. The only response was his own voice bouncing back at him. 

“Stanley!” Will yelled. 

**\--------------------------------**

Stan thought he heard Bev. He moved a short distance away from the group to investigate. 

Out of one of the openings in the tunnel, a clown peaked out, a twisted smile on its face. Stan fell backwards and turned around, ready to run back to everyone else but he turned to a different room. 

It was a larger room with a staircase of the side, most likely for maintenance. In the center of the room, there was a large pool of greywater. Stan skimmed his flashlight around the room and saw no exit. He was trapped. 

“Guys?” He called out. 

He was only met with what sounded like footsteps. 

“Bill? Is that you?” He hoped it was Bill, but a part of him knew it wasn’t so. 

The noises seemed to be coming from all around him, swarming him.

“Stanley!” A voice hissed. He whirled around and saw nothing. 

“Stanley!” Another said, but there was nothing there.

They were coming from everywhere and then, all at once, they stopped. Stan felt a hand creep onto his shoulder. Reluctantly, he turned around and was face to face with the corpse from the Standpipe. So close, Stan could see into her skull and observe all the maggots crawling around her face. 

He screamed and everything went black. 

**\--------------------------------**

“Stanley!” El yelled. She and the rest of the losers were running down the tunnels looking for him. 

“Stan, where are you?” 

“G-Guys.” Bill pointed into a large door. “He’s in here.” 

“How do you know?” Will asked. 

“I can f-feel it.” 

First, all of the boys tried pulling on the handle. No luck. Just as Bill was about to pry open the door with a piece of fence, El pushed him out of the way. She lifted her hand in the air, and as blood dripped from her nose, the door creaked open. 

Will smiled to himself. 

Bill ran into the room, waving his flashlight around frantically. 

“Stan! W-Where are you?” Bill called out into the darkness. 

“Over here!” Eddie called and the losers club swarmed around him. It was Stan’s flashlight, lying on the ground, light still on. 

Eddie picked it up and illuminated a corner. There was Stan, on the ground. Standing over him was a corpse. It had latched onto his face, its teeth dug into his forehead. 

“Holy shit!” Richie screamed. All of the losers were paralyzed with fear. The corpse looked up at the losers, and ran off, releasing Stan. 

“Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Holy FUCK!” Stan hyperventilated, pushing himself back into the corner. “No! No! No! No!” 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay.” All the losers said, each overlapping each other. 

“You fucking left me! You said you had my back and you didn’t! You’re not my friend! None of you are! You made me go into the house! And now look at me!” Stan yelled, hot tears streaming down his face, mixing with the blood oozing from his cuts. 

“S-Stan, I’m sorry, you got s-s-seperated.” Bill stuttered out, tears threatening his eyes. 

“We tried to find you. But we were too late.” Will said. “I’m so sorry. We’re here for you.” 

“We’re right here, man. We’re not gonna leave you again.” Mike put a hand on Stan’s shoulder. 

Stan lunged forward and hugged Bill. Bill hugged him back, slightly surprised, as Stan’s tears absorbed into his shirt. 

“It was light.” Stan whispered to Bill. “All I could see. And it was inviting me.”

“H-Hey. You’re okay n-now. I’m n-not gonna leave you ag-again.” 

“I don’t wanna die, Bill.” 

“You’re n-not gonna d-die, okay? I s-s-swear it.” 

Stan sobbed even more into Bill’s shoulder. Bill realized then that the other losers had left. He saw them standing at the exit, giving them some space, but not enough that someone could get separated again. 

“You’re o-okay, now.” 

“I love you.” Stan said, quietly, almost as if it were a secret.

“I love you, t-too.” Bill stood up, taking Stan’s hand and helping him stand. “Come on. Let’s g-g-go get B-Bev.” 

Stan smiled up at him and they walked, hand in hand out to the rest of the losers. 

“Which way?” Stan asked. 

“This way.” El pointed down the right side of the tunnel. “I can feel her.” 

With El leading the way, they walked through the sewers. Eddie protested greatly to walking through the greywater so halfway through their journey, Richie got so tired of Eddie’s complaining, that he decided to carry Eddie on his shoulders. 

Eventually they came across a door, which lead into a room. It was larger than the room Stan had been in. In the center there was a pile of what looked like trash, swept down the sewer drains. Up at the top of the room, there were thousands of kids, floating in mid air. 

“Bev!” Ben yelled when he saw Bev also floating but not as high as the other kids. He ran over to her, desperate to get her down. He jumped and tried to reach her foot but it was too high. 

As this was happening, Bill was drawn away by a flash of yellow. 

El pointed her hand up at Bev and brought her down, slowly and gently. When Bev’s feet touched the ground, everyone expected her to wake up but she didn’t. 

“Come on, Bev. Wake up.” Ben shook her shoulders. “Bev, please. Beverly!” 

“Ben-” Mike started before stopping short when he saw Ben lean forward and kiss Bev. 

“Woah.” Richie said quietly. 

When Ben pulled away, Bev’s eyes opened, like Sleeping Beauty. 

“January embers.” Bev said, smiling. 

“My heart burns there too.” Ben replied. 

“What’s happening right now?” Richie whispered to Eddie. 

“Romance, Richard.” 

“Hey, Eds. We’re the only ones here who haven’t kissed yet.” Richie wiggled his eyebrows. 

“I didn’t kiss.” Stan pointed out. 

“Uris, we all know you hit that before coming down here.” 

“That’s disgusting.” Mike replied. 

“Anyway, back to what I was-” Richie was cut off by Eddie grabbing his shirt collar and kissing him. 

“Happy now?”

“Very.” 

“Guys, where’s Bill?” Stan asked, looking around, panic mounting in his mind. 

“Over there.” Mike pointed to where Bill was standing. They walked over and saw Bill talking to Georgie, whose arm was missing, just as El had seen. 

“I wanna go home. It’s so cold here.” Georgie cried. 

“I w-want nothing more than for you to b-be home. With M-Mom and D-D-Dad.” Bill took a deep breath and raised Mike’s bolt gun to Georgie’s head. “But you’re not Georgie.” 

Georgie started to cry. Suddenly, Will noticed something in the corner, lurking behind a stack of trash. 

“Bill, wait!” He yelled, just as Bill was about to pull the trigger. “The clown’s over there! That’s Georgie.” 

Bill sighed and dropped the bolt gun, taking Geogrie into his arms. “I m-missed you so much. I’m s-sorry I thought you were the cl-clown.” 

Will and the rest of the losers watched in horror as the clown stood up from where it was hiding and ran at Bill. 

“Look out!” Ben yelled. 

Bill saw the clown and pushed Georgie away, as the clown lunged at him, grabbing Bill in a chokehold and pulling him away from the losers.

“Bill! Let him go, you fucker!” Stan grabbed a metal pipe off the ground and held it threateningly in his arms. 

“Come any closer and I’ll kill him.” The clown warned. Bill was struggling, his legs kicking out, trying anything to get free. “I’ll take him. I’ll take all of you! And eat your flesh while I feed on your  _ fear _ !” 

Georgie whimpered into Stan’s leg, holding onto his jeans like a lifeline. 

“Or.. you let me be. You let us be. I take him and you go back to your normal lives and I’ll have my rest. You’ll all go one to live fulfilling lives, basking in riches.” 

“Go... please.” Bill croaked out, looking on the verge of death. He looked at Stan. “I’m s-sorry.” 

“Bill-” Bev started to protest. 

“Go!” Bill barely yelled. 

Stan looked to Bev and Mike, who were standing at his side. Richie had grabbed a bat from the large pile of junk and was holding Eddie’s hand. Ben was standing behind Bev, scared shitless. El and Will were looking at each other, El’s nose dripping with blood without her doing anything. She whispered something to Will that no one else could hear. Stan looked to Mike. Mike still had the bolt gun, fully loaded. Stan tightened his grip on the pipe, getting ready to strike. 

They all heard a door bust open, nearly falling off its hinges. A group of people flooded in, barely older than the losers, except for two adults, dressed as sailors. 

“GET FUCKED HAWKINS STYLE BITCH!” One of the kids yelled, holding onto what looked like a firework. He hurled it at the clown, setting off fireworks, exploding bright lights over all the losers. The clown was so taken aback that it released Bill from its grip. Georgie sprung forward and grabbed Bill, dragging him back over to Stan. 

More and more fireworks were thrown by this new group and Will and El, who didn’t hesitate to hop in and grab some fireworks. Stan kneeled down next to Bill, who was holding his neck in his hands. 

“Hey, you okay?” 

“Sh-Should be alright.” 

“We’re talking later about what just happened.” Stan said, helping Bill get up. They created a shield, protecting Georgie and getting ready to attack. 

“Who are these guys?” Richie asked, yelling over the fireworks. 

“These are my friends!” Will responded. 

“The demogorgon defeating friends?” 

“Hell yeah. We’re good at this kinda thing.” One of the kids said. 

The clown had been pushed back by fireworks, but it wasn’t truly reacting, which worried the losers club. 

“Shit.” El said. “We’re out.” 

Bill saw the clown smile as it began to walk back over to them. 

“Did you guys bring any other weapons?” Will asked, fear mounting. 

“No.” Mike said. “What the hell is that thing?” 

“Your worst nightmare.” Stan replied. 

The clown started to growl. None of the losers club or the party moved. 

“Fear.” It growled before the group heard a rushing sound from above them. They all looked up and saw a wave of greywater come crashing down upon them. 

The water forced them out, all in seperate directions, scattering them across the sewer system. 

“Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Holy fuck!” Steve yelled, half his voice swallowed by water. He was travelling down a tunnel with Dustin and Robin, who were also screaming. 

“Goddamnit Harrington! Why’d you have to bring us to Maine!” Robin groaned. The water finally slowed to a stop. They were lost. 

“Woah, this is not my fault, okay? Will called me. What was I supposed to do? Say no?” 

“Ask more questions about WHAT THE FUCK THAT THING WAS!” Dustin screamed. 

“Fighting isn’t gonna get us anywhere. We have to find everyone else.” Robin said, shining a flashlight down the tunnel. 

“Dude, who were those kids?” Steve asked. “I mean, jesus. I swear I saw a seven year old. I mean who brings a seven year old to a fight?” 

“Shut up, Steve.” Dustin and Robin replied in unison. 

  
  



	7. The Battle of Derry (Act Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like my favorite chapter of anything ive ever wrote

In a different tunnel, Lucas had just surfaced from under the water. Mike and Will were trying to climb up a sewer grate. 

“Guys? Why are you climbing the wall?” 

“This is the way we came.” Mike replied. 

“That’s not possible. It’s closed off.” 

“This is Its domain. Anything is possible.” Will said, mysteriously. 

“Will, what is that thing?” Mike asked. 

“It’s hard to explain. We call it It. It takes the form of your deepest darkest fear. We’ve never seen it’s true form. It eats kids. ‘Feeds on their fear’.” 

“Why’s it a clown then?” 

“That’s what Richie’s scared of. For me…” 

Mike stopped climbing and put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Will.” 

“I saw Bob. He... He told me it was all my fault. That I killed him. That I could have killed you or Mom.” 

“That’s not true.” 

“It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. It’s what I’m afraid of.” 

“You’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay, cause we’ll get out of here and regroup and kill It.” 

Lucas made gagging noises. “Are you lovebirds done? Killer clown to kill. Lives to save.” 

Will’s face turned beet red and Mike took his hand off Will’s shoulder. 

“There’s gotta be something we can use to break this.” Will moved away from Mike, desperate to get the spotlight off of himself. 

“How about this?” Lucas held up a crowbar. 

“Where’d you find that?” Mike asked. 

“Under the water.” Lucas shrugged. 

**\--------------------------------**

Bill awoke with a start, coughing up water. He must have passed out. Jesus, where was he? He felt around on the ground, looking for his flashlight when he felt something else; a wrist. He pulled his hand back fast, thinking this was another one of Its tricks. When nothing else happened, he felt the wrist again.

It was a small wrist, belonging to a child.  _ Georgie _ . Bill rolled off his back and started to shake Georgie. 

“Come on, G-Georgie. I can’t l-lose you n-now.” Bill said. Georgie’s eyelashes fluttered open. 

“Billy!” He flung his arm around Bill. 

“Hey, b-bud. How a-are you?” 

When Georgie pulled away, Bill saw that he was missing an arm, chewed off by the clown. 

“D-D-Does it h-hurt?” Bill asked. 

“It used to. But now it doesn’t feel like anything.” 

“Sh-Shit. Where are w-we?” Bill looked around the room, not seeing anything because of the darkness. 

“I’ve got a flashlight!” Georgie smiled and pulled his flashlight out. Bill flicked it on and saw that they were in a small room, half-flooded with water. On the flooded side, Bill saw a hand, stuck out as if over the rim of a bathtub. Bill followed the wrist up to an arm which he immediately recognized as Stan’s. 

“St-Stan!” Bill yelled and Stan’s eyes snapped open. 

“Holy fuck!” Stan sat up straight.

Bill cleared his throat and motioned to Georgie. 

“Right, sorry. What the hell- er-heck, happened?” 

“The g-greywater s-separated us.” 

“Georgie, you okay?” 

“Uh-huh. I mean, my arm’s gone, but I’m okay.” Georgie tried his best at some form of Gallows humor but it just left a sad energy in the air. 

Stan stood up and looked around the room. “Where are we?” 

“N-No clue.” 

Stan ran his hand along the wall, inspecting it. “Well, there’s only one way in so that has to be the way we came.” 

On the flooded side of the room, the water splashed, making all of them jump. Something crawled out of the water. It was a large spider-like creature, with Pennywise’s head, but with eight eyes instead of two. Each of its limbs was pointed like a dagger. The legs were scaly and jagged. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!” Georgie screamed, clinging to his older brother. 

The creature hissed and ran at them. Stan screeched, covering his head with his hands. One of its legs hit the wall, sending debris everywhere. Bill grabbed Georgie and threw him on his back. Bill tried to grab Stan’s hand to run, but Stan dodged it. He grabbed one of the bricks and chucked it at the creature’s head, splitting it open. 

Its scream echoed through the sewers, bouncing off the walls. Stan ducked as It rushed at him. 

“Go! Run!” Stan yelled at Bill, who was still standing in the doorway, with Georgie on his back. 

“I’m following you just go, goddamnit!” Stan yelled again, dodging Its attacks. 

“Shit, shit, shit.” Georgie whispered into Bill’s neck as he ran. Bill turned and saw Stan narrowly duck under one of Its attacks before running after Bill.

“WE’RE GONNA FUCKING DIE!” Georgie yelled once more into Bill’s neck as he heard more destruction behind them. 

Bill kept running, holding onto his younger brother as tight as he could, merely hoping that Stan was still behind them. 

**\--------------------------------**

“Damn, I really pulled the short straw.” El muttered to herself as she watched Eddie try to climb up Richie’s back to escape the greywater they had been swept into. 

“El, El, El.” Richie said, coming over to here, trying his best to support Eddie on his back. “Do you think you could use some of your Jedi mind tricks and get us out of here? Like, figure out where we are, ya know?” 

“Doesn’t work like that.” 

“Damn. Eds, any ideas?” 

“Don’t call me that!” 

“Any ideas,  _ Edward _ .” 

“I’m gonna die surrounded by morons.” El sighed. 

“What was that?” Eddie looked around, his eyes wide with fear. 

“I said, I’m gonna die surrounded by-” 

“Morons, I know I heard. Did you guys not hear that?” 

“Hear what?” Richie asked. 

“That ... sound?” 

“Welp, we’ve lost spaghetti to the sewer madness.” Richie joked. 

“Richard, would you shut up for two seconds! Everyone just shut up and listen!” 

Everyone went silent at Eddie’s request. At first, all they could hear was normal sewer sounds; running water, clinking of pipes. But then, something distant. A scream. 

“Okay, yeah. I heard that.” Richie said. 

“HELLO?!” El yelled out to the voice. 

“El! Is that you?” The voice called back. A figure ran into view. It was Mike Wheeler. 

“Who’s that?” Eddie asked. 

“It’s Mike.” El replied. “He’s one of my friends from Hawkins.” 

“Her boyfriend.” Mike continued. 

El furrowed her eyebrows but before she could say anything Richie started talking.

“So, have you seen anyone else?” 

“It got them.” 

“Who!?” 

“Will and Lucas.” Mike looked down, nodding his head somberly.

“Ol’ Will the Wise? He’s gone? And that Lucas guy?” 

“I think Lucas was the guy with the Satan’s Baby.” Eddie whispered. 

“They’re not dead.” El spoke up, blood starting to drip quietly from her nose. 

“El, I know it’s hard-” Mike tried to reach out for her shoulder but she pushed his hand away and threw him down to the floor, holding his arm at such an angle that it would break. 

“And your not Mike.” 

“El, what the fuck-” Richie muttered. 

“I dumped Mike. And he knows it.” 

“No, I swear! El, it’s me!” 

“Prove it.” 

“Busted.” Mike whispered. His body started to shake, making El drop his arm. His arms stretched out, his legs did the same, but they were clown arms and clown legs. 

“FUCK! IT’S PENNYWISE!” Richie yelled grabbing El and Eddie’s hands and pulling them away. 

**\--------------------------------**

“Hello!” Ben yelled out into the tunnels. The only response was his voice. 

“So, who are you people?” Max asked. 

“We’re the losers club.” Mike responded. “Who are you?” 

“I’m Max.” 

“And you’re friends with Will and El?” Bev questioned. 

“Yeah. None have you have given me your names by the way.” 

“Mike.” 

“Got a last name? Cause there’s another Mike on my side.” 

“Hanlon.” 

“Ben. Please tell me there isn’t another Ben.” 

“There isn’t. You’re all good.”

“Beverly. But everyone calls me Bev.” 

“Well, I already told you. I’m-” 

“Max! Please tell me that’s you!” 

“Lucas?” 

“Over here!” Lucas yelled.

Max and the group rounded a corner and saw Mike (W), Will and Lucas. They were in a tunnel that had grates on either side locking them in. 

“Oh my god, Max. Thank Jesus, you’re here. They’ve been acting all lovebird-y. It’s torture.” 

Max looked over at Will and Mike, who could not look any less lovebird-y. For one, they were on opposite sides of the room and were blushing. Will was working on prying the back grate open, while Mike was sitting on the ground.

“How’d you even get in here?” Mike (H) asked. 

“Is anyone of you claustrophobic?” Bev pushed past Max to the front of the gate. 

They all looked at each other. Will slowly raised his hand. 

“Well, this one’s for you. You’re gonna have to overcome it. That’s the only way you’ll get out.” 

“Great, I’ll just breeze past several years of trauma to get over this fear. Sounds easy.” 

“You never told me you were claustrophobic.” Mike (W) said, looking at Will. 

“Well, maybe there’s things I don’t tell you.” Mike looked hurt by Will’s response. 

“Or we could use this.” Mike (H) pulled something out of his back pocket and presented it to the group. It was a single firework. 

“My man!” Lucas yelled. “I’m gonna live after all.”

**\--------------------------------**

  
  


Bill was running through the sewers, his younger brother on top of his shoulders. When he had stopped hearing noises behind him for a while he slowed and turned around, praying that Stan was behind him. 

“Stan!” Bill yelled when he saw nothing but an empty sewer. 

“G-Georgie, did you s-s-see where he went?” 

Georgie shook his head. 

“F-Frick.” 

“You can swear. I promise I won’t tell.” 

“S-Shit. Stanley!” 

“Stan!” Georgie yelled, copying his brother. 

Just as Bill was about to call out again Georgie slid down his back. 

“I have an idea. PEOPLE WHO BIRDWATCH ARE LOSERS!” 

Silence. 

“Damn.” 

“I will never forgive you for this.” Someone said. 

“Hello!” Bill yelled, ushering Georgie behind him incase it was Pennywise. 

“Hello? Robin, did you hear that?” The voice said. 

“Who are you?” Bill yelled again. 

“Steve! Harrington! I come in peace!” From the darkness, a person emerged. It was one of the sailors. Behind him was another sailor and a kid about Bill’s age, wearing a baseball hat that said ‘Camp Nowhere”. Suddenly there was a rush and Bill was being hugged. It was Stan. 

“I th-thought you died.” Bill said, relaxing into Stan’s arms. 

“Not getting rid of me that easy.” Stan whispered. “Just took a wrong turn. Met up with these guys.” 

“I fucking told you, Rob! Seven year old!” Steve pointed to Georgie. 

“I’m not seven. I’m eight.” 

“Like that makes it any better.” 

“Oh god, okay, where’s his arm?” Dustin gagged. 

“A clown ate it!” Georgie smiled, happy in the way only little kids can be. 

“Excuse me?” 

“We should tell them, right?” Stan asked, still hugging Bill. 

“Yeah, prob-b-bably.” 

“He’s Georgie.” Stan pulled away from their hug. 

“What does that...I don’t follow.” Steve looked confused, which was normal to him in these situations. 

“I’m B-Bill. That’s S-Stan.” 

“You’re the kid whose brother died?” 

“Well, not anymore.” Stan remarked. 

“Will called you, I’m assuming?” Bill asked. 

“Obviously.” Steve responded. “So, have you guys done this whole ‘fight the evil monster to save the town’ thing before or is this new?” 

“Jesus Christ, Steve. What kind of fucking question is that?” 

“I’m trying my best, Robin!” 

“How old are you, anyway?” Stan asked. 

“Twenty.” Steve grumbled.

“What is this thing? ‘It’ or whatever.” Dustin said.

“It takes the form of your deepest fear. So for me, it was a corpse. Bill saw Georgie. Whatever you’re scared of, it’ll become.” 

“That’s terrifying.” Robin adjusted her hat. 

“I have to a-ask. What’s with the sa-sailor outfits?” Bill looked at Robin and Steve. 

“We work at an ice cream parlor. It’s called Scoops Ahoy and we have to dress up as sailors.” 

“This  _ dingus _ ,” Robin pointed at Steve. “Couldn’t wait till after we got dressed to drive to Maine so I’ve been trapped in a sailor costume for the past two days.” 

“Are you guys dating?” Georgie asked, pure childhood innocence in his voice. 

Dustin started laughing while Robin made gagging noises. 

“I would rather die.”

“Wow, so harsh.” Steve shook his head. 

“I’m gay.” Robin said through laughs. 

“King Steve remains single.” Dustin chimed in. 

“Oh that’s nice to hear from you,  _ Dustybun _ .” Steve replied, glaring down to Dustin. 

“Hey, I swore you to secrecy.” 

Stan, Bill, and Georgie looked at each other, confused. 

“Stanney! Tell me it’s you!” Someone yelled as Richie came into view from the darkness. 

“Richie!” Stan went to hug him out of relief, but Richie back up. 

“Tell me something the  _ real _ Stan would know.” Richie narrowed his eyes. Eddie and El came up behind him. 

“One time when you came over to my house, you tried to let me play porn on my TV-” 

“Okay!” Richie yelled, but it was too late, Eddie was giggling. “Nevermind it’s you.” 

“El!” Dustin ran forward and scooped El into a bear hug. 

“Eddie!” Georgie smiled and hugged Eddie. Even though Eddie was the shortest loser, Georgie still couldn’t quite reach him.

“Hiya Georgie. Are you okay?” Eddie looked down at Georgie’s arm, or what was left of it. 

“Of course.” 

“How you gonna explain that one to your parents?” Richie whispered to Bill. 

“B-Beep beep.” 

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoed through the sewers, disrupting their reunion. The tunnels seemed to shake. The whole group looked up at each other and started running in the direction of the sound. 

The scene they came upon was truly something. Ben, Bev, Mike (H) and Max were standing outside of a small room with grates on either side, beaming with pride. One of the grates had a huge hole in it that Will and Lucas were climbing out of. Mike (W) was inside still, waiting for the two of them to get out. 

“What happened here?” Steve asked. 

“Mike, er, Hanlon blew a hole in the grate with a firework.” 

“Nearly killed Mike, uh, Wheeler.” 

“God this is gonna get confusing.” Mike (H) muttered as he shook his head. 

Without a moment's notice, the room changed and they were back in that main circular room with the floating bodies. At one end, was t he losers club and the party. On the other, was Pennywise. But not as they knew. It was the same creature Bill, Stan and Georgie had seen earlier, except now they could see more details.

Its skin was scaly like an alligator. And its teeth reminded Ben of the countless Shark Week specials he had watched. 

“Holy shit.” Robin whispered.

“We have to k-kill it.”

“We’ll let’s do it then.” Richie responded. He grabbed a bat off the ground. Bill pulled a piece of fencing out of his back pocket. Stan, remarkably, had kept hold of his metal pipe and brandished it like a knife. Mike (H) loaded his bolt gun and slung the ammo over his shoulder. Eddie grabbed his inhaler out of his back pocket, not knowing how it would assist him. Lucas pulled a wrist rocket out of his back pocket and loaded it with a rock. 

The clown head atop the frightful beast smiled at the challenge. 

“CHARGE!” Georgie yelled, leading the combined forces of the losers club and the party into the jaws of It. 

Bill hit first, swinging down his fencing onto Pennywise’s head. Georgie kicked one of the legs, knocking It down slightly. 

Mike (H) snuck around the back of It while the rest of the group was fighting it. Silently, he slipped underneath the creature, giving him access to its unprotected stomach. He shot the bolt gun into it, making Pennywise screech out of pain and anger. 

The creature reared its ugly head at Mike, who began to fear for his life. Just then Lucas shot out a rock from his wrist rocket, distracting It for long enough so that Mike could slip away while Mike (W) and Will started hitting it with random sewer junk. 

“Take that!” Richie yelled, hurling a tricycle at Pennywise.

“And that!” Eddie added on, throwing a jack in the box.

One of Its legs shifted into hairy vine-like things from Bev’s fear. They wrapped around her, pulling her closer to it. Ben, thinking only of Bev’s safety, grabbed a sharp pole from the ground and sliced the vines, effectively chopping off one of its legs. 

“Thanks.” Bev smiled at him. It was a slightly strange moment to have in the middle of a sewer battle, but alas. 

“No problem.” 

Will found a rather hefty stick on the ground and swung it at Pennywise’s head, making it swing sideways, right into a beating from Stan and Bill. 

“Will the Wise, bitch.” Will muttered under his breath to himself. 

“Oh please tell me you actually just said that.” Mike smiles. Will realized now Mike was standing much closer than he had thought. 

Will blushed. “Shut up.” 

“Never dropping that.” 

Georgie was standing in the middle of the battle, awkwardly watching this, not totally sure where he should go. 

“Hey, Georgie!” Georgie looked over to where he was being called and saw Steve beckoning him over. Gladly, he ran over. 

“You’re like eight. You really shouldn’t be here, but you’re here now so it’s my responsibility to look after you.” 

“No, it’s no-“ 

“Don’t argue. Just accept. Here let’s grab some of this stuff and throw it, from a safe distance.” 

Georgie picked up some junk and started throwing it at Pennywise. 

Pennywise, although it was an incredibly strong foe, was no match for them. It was on its wit's end and, giving one last hurrah, threw up a bunch of sewer gunk on Eddie. 

Everyone froze and Richie swore that he stopped breathing. Eddie ran a hand through his now vomit filled hair, his mouth wide with shock. Pennywise smiled a crooked smile. 

“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!” Eddie screamed and started kicking the everloving  _ shit _ out of It. Richie watched on, feeling more in love with Eddie than he had ever felt in his life. 

As Eddie finished with one swift kick to the head, El pushed It back against a wall, making it collapse to the ground in utter defeat. 

Bill walked over to it, slowly. Stan was at his side. The rest of the losers club came over as well, followed by the party. Georgie weaved his way to the front, held Bill’s hand, and as one last act of rebellion, stuck his tongue out at Pennywise. 

“You f-feed on f-f-fear. But n-now, you’re the one who’s af-fraid.” Bill said and swung his fencing down at Pennywise. He expected it to hit its head with a satisfying clunk but instead, it went right through it, making the rest of its body turn into nothing more than dust. 


	8. The End of an Era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

They emerged from the sewer into the dark nighttime. 

“There’s a bird watching spot a short walk from here.” Stan said. “We can walk over there and chill out for a bit.” 

Stan walked ahead of them, leading them to this bird watching place.

Will looked over to Mike. He had specks of sewer junk on his face from fighting It. His dark hair blended into the night sky. 

“I’m sorry.” Will spoke suddenly, pulling Mike’s eyes to his. 

“For what?” 

“Being an asshole.” 

Mike chuckled. “I don’t know if I’m completely used to you swearing yet.”

“I was a dick. There’s no excuses.”

“You weren’t a dick.” 

“I was. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” 

“When?”

“When you asked why I never told you I was claustrophobic.” 

“Oh that? Will, if that’s what this is about-” 

“I should have told you about it.” 

Mike smiled silently, unsure of what to say next. Just as he was about to look away, Will spoke up. 

“Why’d you dump El?” 

“I didn’t dump her. It was a mutual dumping.” 

“Okay, why did you mutually dump El?” 

“Long distance is hard. I couldn’t get to Cerebro all the time and when I could she was always out with you guys.” 

“But you got to Cerebro for me..” 

“You’re Will. Of course I would.”

“So what you’re saying is I’m more important than El?” 

“Will, seriously, what’s going on right now? I feel like I’m talking to my mom.” 

“I’m just trying to understand what you’re saying.” Will replied. 

“Just say what you wanna say. I can see through these mind games.” 

Will took a deep breath. “Do you like me?” 

“Of course, Will, you’re my friend.” 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” 

Lucas, who was standing behind the two of them, was listening in on this. He wouldn’t normally eavesdrop but it’s not like there was anything else to do. 

“What do you think?” Mike bit his lip. “I searched for you every night in the Upside Down. I was with you in the hospital. Will, I didn’t do that out of the goodness of my heart. I did it cause I love you.”

Lucas, from behind them, dropped his jaw.

“Well, I love you too.” Will said. Both of them looked forward, not entirely sure of what to do. 

“God, when did things get so weird between the two of us? We used to be so in sync.” Mike said, sadly. 

“I’m sorry I moved. Then maybe things would be easier.” 

Mike sighed and turned towards Will, grabbing his face in his hands. Will was now incredibly close to Mike, their lips almost touching. 

“Is this okay?” 

Will nodded and closed the distance between them, connecting their lips together. 

“Listen, I’m happy for y’all.” Lucas said, breaking up their moment. “But could you get outta the way? I’m walking here.” 

Mike laughed, his hand still on Will’s face. 

“Guess we should save this for later huh?” He said. 

“Guess so.” Will smiled. Mike dropped his hand from Will’s face but Will grabbed his hand and walked along. 

  
  


**\--------------------------------**

“We have arrived.” Stan said, showing the group a small clearing. It wasn’t much but it was good enough. Everyone practically collapsed onto the ground out of relief and exhaustion. 

Ben and Bev were sitting together up against a rock. 

“So you wrote the poem?” Bev asked, looking at Ben. 

“Yeah. Did you like it?” 

“I loved it. How’d you come up with it?” 

“I really don’t know.” Ben laughed. “I guess I just thought about you and everything I like about you. So I had a lot of material to work with.” 

“Awww.” 

Ben smiled. 

“You’re so cute, Ben.” Bev leaned over and kissed Ben on the cheek, making him blush harder. 

“I have a confession to make.” Ben said. 

“What? Please don’t tell me you’re moving or dying or something.” 

“You’re way out of my league. I mean like  _ way _ out of my league.” 

Bev laughed, like Ben had just made the funniest joke of 1989. “If anyone’s out of the league it’s you. You wrote me a love poem, Ben. Any girl would kill to have someone like that. I got really lucky.” 

“Okay, I lied. I have another confession. That was my first kiss.” 

“Really I’d have no idea. Between you and me, you kiss better than anyone else I’ve kissed.” 

“Even Bill?” 

“God, especially Bill.” 

“Damn, he’s that bad?” 

“Not to be rude to third grade Bill but yeah. That bad.” 

Ben threw his head back with laughter. “Poor Stan, then.” 

“Poor Stan, indeed.” Bev agreed, looking across the clearing to where Stan and Bill were sitting. 

Stan and Bill were sitting closer to small creak where Georgie and Steve were playing. 

“Earlier, when we were in the sewers, you told me to leave. You told everyone to leave. Did you really think we would?”

“I d-don’t know. I just wanted ev-everyone to be okay.” 

“You can’t keep doing that. The whole ‘needs of the group over my own needs’ routine, Bill. No one was gonna leave. You know that, right?”

“I wan-nted you guys t-to. Th-then maybe you could have that life you used to t-tell me about. Just you in a c-car dr-driving across the country.” 

“You were always in that life, too. You and me.” Stan nudged Bill shoulder. 

“Maybe we could d-do th-that. You, me and the open r-road.” Bill said and Stan laughed softly. 

“What about the losers? And Georgie?” 

“Okay how about th-this. When we turn 17, we take G-G-Georgie and we leave. There’s not-t-hing here for us.” 

“Where do you wanna go, Big Bill?” 

“San Fr-Francisco. LA. B-Boston. Disney World.” 

“Let’s start at Disney.” Stan smiled. He rested his head in the crook of Bill’s neck. 

“I’ll never leave.” Stan whispered.

“I kn-know you won’t.” 

Further down the creek, Richie was splashing in the pond, tossing water up at Eddie, who was sitting on the bank. 

“Jesus, Rich. Would ya cut that out? I’m soaked in clown vomit, I would not like to add pond water to the mix.” 

“You wanna wash that vomit off spaghettio? Make sure you don’t get some kinda clown disease?” 

“I guess you’re right.” Eddie sighed before getting down into the pond with Richie. He dipped under the water, brushing off his shirt and shorts, trying to get the vomit off. 

“Wait, you have a bit right here.” Richie pointed to a spot on Eddie’s cheek. 

“Did I get it?” Eddie asked, wiping his face and completely missing the spot.

“No, here let me get it.” Richie swam over to where Eddie was and wiped the spot off his cheek. Richie’s thumb lingered on Eddie’s cheek. Eddie looked up into Richie’s eyes and for a second he thought they were going to kiss. 

Richie coughed and moved his hand off Eddie’s face, retreating to the other bank. 

“What are we, Richie?” Eddie asked. 

“Human beings.” 

Eddie sighed. “Are we dating? In the sewer, when I kissed you, did you want to kiss me?” 

“Yeah I wanted to kiss you. That’s why I said that.” Richie looked down at the water. “What do you want to be?” 

“I would wanna be your...boyfriend.” 

“Well, it’s your lucky day, Eds, cause I would wanna be your boyfriend, too.” 

“Really?” Eddie jumped up, a big smile on his face. “Uh, I mean ...really?” 

Richie laughed. “Really, spaghetti.” 

“Okay, now that we’re boyfriends, my name is Eddie!” 

“Okay Eddie….” Richie paused, a huge smile creeping up his face. 

Eddie looked horrified. “No. Don’t you dare.” 

“Spaghetti.” Richie smiled and splashed Eddie with some water. In retaliation, Eddie splashed Richie. Before they knew it, they were screaming and splashing around in the pond. 

El and Max were lying in the middle of the clearing, looking up at the stars. 

“I missed you. More than I thought I would.” El said. 

“I missed you, too. It sucked being the only girl in the party.” 

“I can imagine.” El laughed. “You should stay over. Joyce wouldn’t mind. We could have a sleepover and spy on people and look at magazines.” 

“I can’t. We’ve been for two days and my parents will get worried. I wish I could.” Max sighed. “I wish you could teleport.” 

“I wish I could teleport, too.” 

“So, Mike told me you broke up.” 

“Yeah. He never really showed up and when he did I never showed up. It was hard to get on the same page.” 

“He got on the same page with Will, though. I mean did you see them earlier?” Max said, obviously referencing Mike and Will’s kiss.

“Well, that’s because he’s in love with Will. It was obvious.” 

“You knew? And didn’t care?” 

“Well, maybe I was in love with someone else.” El replied. Max dropped her jaw. 

“Who?” 

“Well, let’s just say, they’ve got red hair. And they’re not a guy.” 

“Bev!” 

“You’re an idiot.” El replied. “Someone  _ else _ with red hair. They like to skate. They’re the best at arcade games.” 

Max slowly started to realize what El meant. “Ohhh. OH!” 

“Yeah.” El smiled. 

“Well, I like someone too. They have short brown hair. And superpowers. And they-” 

Max was cut off by El kissing her. El drew back and looked at Max.

“Did I guess right?” 

“You did.” Max smiled before kissing El again. 

“Alright, Georgie. Do you remember what I said?” Steve asked. 

“Yes! When you like someone, you act like you don’t care. Even if you do.” Georgie repeated. 

“And then what?” 

“You wait until you feel the electricity.” 

“And what’s the golden rule?” 

“Stealthy and slow, like a ninja.” 

“Exactly!” 

“Oh my god.” Robin said. “It’s a mini you.” 

“He’s training an army.” Dustin responded. 

“You’ve been replaced, Henderson.” 

“Ouch.” 

Steve looked down at his watch. “Ah, shit! Sorry to cut this short everyone but Hawkins kids we gotta go.” 

Everyone groaned. 

“Can’t we stay a little bit longer?” Mike whined. 

“Yeah, please.” Max agreed.

“No, your parents are probably filing police reports as we speak.” 

“I don’t want you to go.” Will said to Mike. 

“Steve, please.” Lucas said. He was sitting next to Mike and they were having a discussion about the best type of firework. 

“Nope. To the car!” They all stood, including the Derry kids. Steve brought them all over to his car. 

“The Toddfather?” Richie asked, looking at the license plate. 

“Yeah. I got it off a guy for the super low price of free.” Steve climbed into the driver’s seat and waved in everyone else. He looked at Georgie. 

“See you around, little man. And remember, four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.” 

Georgie nodded. 

“You taught my brother who Farrah Fawcett was?!” Bill yelled, horrified.

“Maybe I could sneak with you.” Will said. “In the trunk or something.” 

“And worry your mom and Jonathan?” 

Will sighed. 

“I’ll be back. See if you can come down for Halloween.” Mike said, cramming himself into the back seat with Lucas.

“I love you Mike.” 

“I love you, too Will.” 

The losers had bid their farewells to the party, each one saddened to see them go so soon. 

“Y’all come back soon!” Mike yelled as Steve put the car in drive. 

“Drive safe!” Ben called as they watched the Toddfather speed off into the night. 

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is always appreciated
> 
> follow me on tumblr @softboy-stanley


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